


No way out.

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Langst, Season 1 and 2 Spoilers, Shallura hurah, She pronouns for Pidge, haggar is a bully, i didn't do this right did i?, i should probably make this a series.;), i'm not sure how to use tags, minor cusses, much klance, this is after season 2 but Shiro didn't dissapear, warning is for chapters 1-3ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-22 18:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10702734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Alarms started to blare through the castle."Princess! Are you alright?" Shiro rushed in."..Guys?" Keith looked around the room."Where's Lance?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so, hi. first fanfic. feel free to leave bad reviews. the only reason "where's lance?" is because i want Keith to lose his mind. please ifnore the typos and grammar issues. i'm normally good at keeping track of them.

"That's it Allura! Keep going!" Coran yelled from the observation deck. 

"I do-don't think I-I can hold it much long-" she broke off as it exploded.                           Alarms started to blare at the sudden explosion. 

"Princess! Are you alright?" Shiro rushed in with the other paladins behind him.

"Ye- Yes i'm fine."

Shiro grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. "Are you sure?" He stared into her eyes. "...uh..." 

"Oh, sorry." He let go of her arm and turned to the other paladins standing at the doorway. "Everything seems to be fine guys. It's just Allura practicing-" he looked back to see if his assumption was correct. Allura nodded. "her magic."

Grumbling as he left, Keith noticed someone was missing. "..Guys?" 

"Yea?" they all said, simultaneously. 

"HOLY SHI-" Pidge screamed. "Pidge." Shiro glared at her. "What is it, Keith?"

"Where's Lance?"

 

Everything was running smoothly. Emphasis on was. It was a quick in and out. It was just a simple 'Check the distress beacon'. He went without the team, to prove he was worth something to the team. To prove e wasn't the seventh wheel. He should've known it was a trap. This galaxy has been empty for over a thousand years. No Galra around? Well, it didn't seem normal but he had to help these 'people'. Being caught in a tractor beam was bad enough, but he was stupid enough not to tell his team where he was going. "I'm gonna try an exercise with blue!" He called out before he left. 

_Stupid, Stupid, Stupid._

Lance thought.

**_My Pilot is not stupid._ **

He didn't bother arguing with Blue. She wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise.

_I'm just a seventh wheel, Blue. It's all I'll ever be. No matter how hard I-_

**_NO! YOU ARE NOT JUST A SEVENTH WHEEL! MY PILOT IS SPECIAL! MY PILOT IS FUNNY, AND KIND AND ALL THINGS AMAZING!_ **

_None of that is true, Blue. Look at me now. I'm stuck in a tractor beam, because i was stupid enough to-_

"Knock knock."

Lance looked through the eyes of his lion.

"oh no." he breathed.

His heart had started to race. How could this have been her ship? How could-

Black Lightning started racing towards his lion.

 

"Where's Lance?"

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked. "Wasn't he cooking with you, Hunk?"

"No. I thought he was-"

Allura cut him off. "Saying where we thought he was won't help the situation. We need to find Lance."

"Ah, Princess?"

"Yes , Coran?"

"He said he was trying out an exercise with The Blue Lion."

"When?"

Coran hesitated trying to recall his memories.

"....5 glorbax ago."

\----------

Quick tip- gloriax is going to be hour.

\----------

" **BLUE! TURN ON THE PARTICLE BARRIER!!!"**

The particle barrier had hardly enough time.

"That was too close..." he whispered unintentionally.

Black lightning continued to hit the Blue Lions barrier. 

"Paladin. If you do not come out of your lion, we will kill your fellow yellow Paladin."

"Hunk??"

How had he gotten here? He was cooking! He couldn't be here! 

"You have ten seconds."

"10...9...8...7...6..."

Lance had already stared to get up. Hunk couldn't die on his behalf. He- he couldn't-

_**MY PILOT! DO NOT! IT IS A -** _

Too late. Lance had already left his lion. 

 

_A what?_

Oh. A trap. Well, come to think of it, this entire thing was a trap so-

His arms had been grabbed.

"Wha-"

Cuffs.

"LEGGO!" Lance fought hard against thes- these ninjas holding him.

A muzzle.

"Lefff"

"What was that Paladin?"

He was forced to his knees. A clawed hand grabbed his chin. Lance tried to shake his head free, but it wouldn't get loose.

"Oh yes."

Lance looked up.

_No.. Anyone but her no- don't take Blue-_

_"_ Get the lion. Now."

_**MY PILOT! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?????** _

_**MY PILOT! ANSWER ME!** _

The Druids moved towards Blue. She roared in outrage. They would not take her pilot. Blue shot up, ready to fight.

_**BLUE.** _

_**My Pilot!** _

_I'm fine Blue. I need you to put up your particle barrier and let the others kno-_

**_I cannot! They cannot take you! I can- I will- I MUST KEEP YOU FROM HARM!_ **

God, this was frustrating.

_Blue. If you don't put up your particle barrier and keep it up, I will be hurt._

She probably knew he was lying, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Blue growled something like a sign, then put up her particle barrier.

" _What did you do?_ " she snarled.

"Keeping you out, Haggar."

She growled in frustration. Haggar opened her palms and faced them towards Lance.

He knew what she was about to do.

_Blue, promise me, keep your barrier up._

**_But My Pilot!_ **

**_Promise me. Please._ **

**_I promise, My Pilot._ **

"You won't get Blue."

Black lightning danced across her fingertips.

She shot it towards Lance.

* * *

"5 hours ago?" Hunk yelled.

"He could be hurt, Allura! He could be-"

"Track the Blue Lion." Allura stood in 'pilot' area, and tracked his Lion.

"Oh no..."

"What is it?" Shiro asked. "What's wrong?"

"Hagar has him."

"Haggar?!?"

"She couldn't! He was only-"

Everybody was consumed by worry, shouting things that they didn't believe. Lance could be dead for all they knew.

 

 

Keith inhaled sharply. He couldn't lose anyone else. Lance had to be okay. He had to be-

Keith rushed out of the room, Shiro right behind him.

"Keith!" Shiro grabbed hold of him to keep him from running any further.

"Shiro! Let go of me! I have to get Lance!"

"Keith. We can't just -" he started, trying to find the words. He was their leader. He had to calm them, figure out a plan-

"TAKASHI! PLEASE! LET ME GO!"

Shiro held back tears. Keith was struggling so hard.

"I HAVE- HAVE TO GET LANCE!" Tears started streaming down Keith's face.

"DON'T YOU WANT HIM BACK?!"

Of course he did. He would give another arm to get Lance back. He'd do anything. But he needed to keep Keith from killing himself as well. They needed a plan. They would get him out. They just needed time. 

Keith had stopped struggling as hard. His face was streaked with tears.

"Ta-Takashi... _please.."_

"Keith, I'm sorry. We can't just rush in." He put Keith down and pulled him into a hug.

Keith tensed. He didn't like physical contact. Despite that, he leaned into Shiros shoulder. 

_"Please... Takashi- I ca- I can't lose anyone else."_

"I know. I know." He let go to lead him back to the control room. 

Keith bolted.

"Keith! Wait- Come back!  _Dammit he's fast."_

Shiro ran after him once more.

 

As Shiro approached the Red Lion's hangar, he heard the roar of engines.

 

 

 

The black lightning shot at him. He screamed in agony. How did Shiro last so long? He doubted he could last more than a few minutes.

She tore off the muzzle.

"y-yo-you ca-can d-"

Another agnoized scream. 

"Tell me, Paladin, how long do you think you'll last?"

He tried to keep his breathing steady. It wasn't exactly working.

Haggar tore off his helmet and took the comms unit out. 

She turned it on. "Dear, dear Paladins. It seems I happen to have your Blue Paladin aboard my ship."

Lance could hardly hear much anymore. He heard some words, but it still wasn't a lot.

"HAGGAR! LET LANCE GO YOU-"

"Whag do you want, Haggar?"

She hesitated a moment before answering. As she opened up a visual of Lance on the floor, trying to breathe after the lightning, she took a knife off the wall and cut open his stomach. 

He held his scream back. He held tears back. He wouldn't show this lady weakness.

"LANCE!" Pidge screamed.

Lance heard a lot of people calling his name. But.. everything was getting so dark.. maybe he could just take a nap...

"LANCE! OPEN YOUR EYES!"

His eyes flew open. He couldn't disobey Shiro. No, he didn't want too.

"Lance! We're coming! Just hold on!"

"Oh, my my my, no, champion. If you come, then I will rip his head off."

Hunk breathed in sharply. He couldn't let that happen. There was already a pool of blood under Lance. He was drenched with sweat and extremly pale. 

"I-I c-"

"Something to say Paladin?" She grabbed his hair and forced his head up. She grabbed the knife once more and stuck it in his already open cut.

"LANCE!" His teammates cried.

She dragged her claws down his face.

Every nerve in his body was on fire, but he still managed to hold down a scream.

"Nothing to say?" Hagar asked. "Why don't you look up? To your  _family."_ she spat.

She dragged him up by his hair. 

When they saw him, Hunk almost puked. His face was a bloody mess, his lower half almost fully covered in red. His stomach.. his stomach was worse. If you looked close enough, you could see an organ or two, and of course, the hilt of the knife. His eyes were desperate and he looked as if he was about to cry. Why wasn't Blue helping him? Why wasn't Blue even talking to him?

_It's so dark... Maybe I could.... I could_ .... _just take a little nap..._

"LANCE! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"

He must've said it out loud. He didn't know but they seemed to have heard him.

"WHY ISN'T BLUE HELPING HIM??" Pidge screamed.

"You mean his lion? Well, that's because he ordered The Blue Lion not too." she smirked at the words.

"Shall we get back to work, Paladin?"

She threw more black lightning at him.

 

 

As Keith saw the visual of Lance in the lion, he made Red go faster. 

"Can't you open a wormhole or- or something??" He held back tears. 

Red just grumbled in annoyance and went faster. When the ship came into view, he enabled the cloaking device Pidge put on his Lion.

"Here goes nothing. Red, when i get back, I need you to get your particle barrier on and fly as fast you can."

If she could, she would have nodded.

Keith jetpacked over to the ship and flew to Lance's location.

"Just a few more minutes Lance...  I'm coming."

 

 


	2. Is this the end?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Just a little longer, okay Lance?"
> 
> Lance's eyes were shut.
> 
> "Lance?!?" He shook him again.
> 
> His eyes stayed shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> or, my way of writing at 2 in the morning

Lance's head slumped forward onto his chest.

"LANCE! COME ON, BUDDY WAKE UP!" Hunk screamed, nearly paralyzed with fear. It was a surprise he could even talk. 

" _Open. Your. Lion."_ Haggar snarled.

"ha-h-ha.. i-in yo-ur-"he said , barley above a whisper, spitting blood in the process.

"Fine." She hurled more lightning towards his chest.

He screamed in pure terror and pain.

_**My Pilot! Please! Let me help you!** _

**_My Pilot?_ **

**_MY PILOT! YOU MUST STAY AWAKE!_ **

_B-but it hu-hurts Blue.. it hurts to-too much..._

**_Promise me, My Pilot!_ **

**_LANCE!_ **

_wha-what a coincidence. You're usin-using my name as I'm dying._

It was hard for him to even think. All he wanted was to close his eyes.. Why wouldn't Blue let him do that?

_**OPEN YOUR EYES! STAY AWAKE! LANCE!** _

Hearing Blue call him 'Lance' was all of the energy he needed. He slit an eyelid open.

Haggar grabbed his chin and forced it up. Wincing at the touch,  he managed to open the other eye half way. 

Lance looked up at the screen with his friends faces. Hunk had tears down his face and Pidge was on the verge of tears. Allura and Coran looked as if they were trying not kill someone in their way to get him and Shiro... Shiro's face was set with pure rage. He was clearly holding back from flying directly to his location.

_wait... Isn't someone missing?_

He couldn't think straight. He couldn't tell if someone was missing...but, shouldn't there be 6 people on screen?

* * *

Keith looked ahead of him. Two druids and Haggar. Simple. He snuck around the sides of the room. Lance was in bad shape. His eyes were closed, there was a hilt of a knife sticking out of a very large cut on his stomach, there were claw marks down his left cheek, and his arm looked broken. 

Throug the visual, he could see Hunk crying and Pidge swearing and giving threats to whoever touched him. Shiro had pure fury on his face and Keith was just as mad as Shiro. 

He snuck up behind one of the druids, and stabbed it in the head.

Haggar dropped Lances chin and looked towards the noise of the fall. Keith had already snuck back to the sides of the room with the cloaking device on.

He looked towards Lance.

_Oh no... no no no... he can't be-_

**_He is not, My Pilot. Blue has assured me._ **

Keith sighed of relief. So, he wasn't dead yet. He snuck around to the other druid. Haggar still had her head away from him, so he cut off the druids head.

" _Who-"_ Haggar snarled. She was cut off by a sword going for her chest. 

* * *

_**My Pilot! Lance! Please! Open your eyes! The Red Paladin has come to help you!** _

_I-i don't hav-have the energy, Blue._

**_Just for a few moments, Lance!!!!_ **

He gathered enough energy to slit one eyelid.

He looked ahead of him to see a sword go towards Haggar. She dissapeared right before it hit her.

_Damn... she should hav-_

The guy holding the sword came to and cut his cuffs.

"Wh-wha-" Lance was cut off by a scream of pain. Oh wait... it was his scream. Why was he screaming?

"Shi- bad arm, bad arm. I'm sorry Lance-"

Lances eye had slid closed and his head had slumped forward.

"Lance!" Keith cried, desperate to wake his friend up. 

"Lance, please! Wake up!"

Lance grumbled in pain.

"I-I don't wa-want t-too."

"Please, Lance."

"mmm," he opened his eyes halfway.

"Oh, thank God. Stay awake, okay?"

"aw.. keith is wooo-"

"Shut it."

Lance winced at the volume of his voice.

"Sorry!"

He draped an arm over his shoulders and picked up Lance's helmet.

"Let's get to Blue."

"ye....."

* * *

 

"you will die, lady. A terrible, horrible gruesome death you-" Pidge mumbled trying to pinpoint his exact location.

"Guys, he's not doing so good." Hunk said, hardly above a whisper. His worry had consumed him.

A thump echoed through the comms.

"What?"

" _Who-"_

Black most consumed her and she was gone. In the room, there was one dead body, and a head still rolling on the floor, leaving a trail of blood. Lance had fallen to the floor, eyes half open and glazed over.

He looked even worse. There was blood coming from where the lightning hit, and his muscles were twitching uncontrollably.

Shiro looked again. Keith had started to help, no wait, pick Lance up, when Lance screamed.

Keith almost immediately dropped him, but softly.

"Lance! Oh my god i'm sorry"

"ALLURA! CORAN!" Shiro cried. "PREPARE A -"

"Already on it, Shiro." Coran responded. 

* * *

 

Keith half dragged, half carried Lance back to Blue.

"Blue," Lance breathed.

"Come on. We're almost there. Keep your eyes open."

" _n-no.. please... don't take her-"_

"What? No! Lance, it's Keith. I'm getting you back to the castle-"

Lance hesitated. His eyes were glassy and he didn't know what to think. How did he know this was Keith? Maybe Haggar was just tricking him...

_**Lance! You are fine! It is the Red Paladin! Stay awake!** _

_Mullet..?_

"Yea." 

Lance must've said out loud without realizing.

They walked on Blue's ramp and into the cockpit. 

"Blue, can you-"

Blue had already started flying. Blue growled as if to say;  _Try me._

"Alright then... Lance, I need you to stay awake until we get to the Castle. Okay?"

"okay..."

Keith looked around for something to stop the bleeding. After checking for what seemed like hours, he found a cloth. Or, an altean version of a cloth.

Lance's eyes had slid closed again.

"Lance!"

No response.

"Oh God... LANCE!" 

Keith shook him slightly. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to wake him.

"s-shut yo-your quiznak, ke-"

"Tell some jokes Lance! Anything! Just stay awake!"

"It r-re-really so-sounds l-like you-you're w-worried..haha.."

Lance's eyes started to close. Keith pressed the cloth to his face and Lance's eyes shot open.

" _I-It h-hurts, M-mullet."_

"I know, I know."

Keith looked up continuing to push on the cuts. He could see the Castle now. 

"Just a little longer, okay Lance?"

Lance's eyes were shut.

"Lance?!?" He shook him again.

His eyes stayed shut.

* * *

 

_Haggar grabbed his hair and yanked his head up. This is what happens to people who defy The Galra Empire. She brought a knife up and dragged it across his throat._

_"KEITH!" Lance screamed. He had been too late. He couldn't get out in time. He couldn't-_

 

"LANCE! PLEASE!"

He blinked a few times. Was someone calling him?

He watched as someone pressed a cloth to his cheek. Why did he taste copper? Who was above him?

"w-wha..?"

"Lance! I said stay awake!"

Oh. It was Keith. Why is he mad? Did he do something wrong?

The memories rushed back to him. That's right. He had been nearly killed until Keith showed up. Of course Keith would be mad.

"S-sorry.." He mumbled.

"What? No Lance, that's not-"

Blue stopped in her hangar and Lance's eyes started to shut. 

"God da-" Keith picked lance up bridal-style and ran to the infirmary.

 

Shiro and Hunk had ran to Blue's hangar only to see that Keith had ran out to the infirmary, no doubt.  They ran after him, and when they got there, Keith had laid him in the table near the pods.

"Why can't he go in a pod?" Keith asked.

"The knife has gone far too deep. Before he goes in, it needs to come out or his skin will heal around it." Coran explained.

"J-just hurry. He seems to be-"

Lance's body had stopped moving.

* * *

 


	3. It's not as it seems...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Keith?" Shiro asked turning to the boy. He was covered In Lance's blood and was quite pale.
> 
> "Are you okay?"
> 
> "I-" Keith started.
> 
> "Keith?" Pidge questioned.
> 
> Then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lance will not have an easy time...

**"LANCE!"** Keith cried.

Lance had stopped moving. There were no noises from his previously ragged breaths, no muscle spasms from the lightning, nothing. Nothing at all.

_No. No, he couldn't be. He survived the explosion.. Couldn't he survive this???_

**_The Blue Paladin is strong, My Pilot. There are still vitals._ **

All around Keith, there were blurs of people going around. He couldn't focus on anything. Lance had to be okay. Didn't he?

"There's still a pulse!" Coran announced.

"come on Lance..." Keith breathed.

Shiro had started to perform cpr on Lance. After the  15th try, Keith had to hold back tears. He couldn't lose anyone else. No, he couldn't lose Lance. Lance meant too much to be lost.

_This can't be happ-_

Lance's eyelids fluttered open. He moved his hand to his chest, grasping for air.

"W-wh-"

Shiro took Lance's hand in both of his.

"This is going to hurt, Lance. I'm-"

_"Y-you ca-can't hav-have Bl-Blue."_

* * *

He looked up. He could see Haggar standing above him, throwing lightning at his chest.

He tried to sit up. He tried almost everything to get out of the way of the lightning.

He suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his stomach. He closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them again.

"S-shiro...? Is th-"

"I'm right here. You're going to be fine."

"Wha-what's go-going o-on?"

He felt someone grab hold of his back and legs.

"Wha-?"

He looked up for a few seconds, to see a terrified face and long hair.

"K-keith-?"

"Is the pod ready, Allura?"

"Yes! Lance is ready to go in!"

Keith put Lance down, and backed up.

"Wh-wha-?"

Hunk came to the rescue. He placed Lance in the standing position. 

"It's okay, Lance. We'll see you soon." Hunk half whispered.

"I-I ne-need t-to t-talk to K-kei-"

The transparent wall shut closed and his eyes shut.

"Keith?" Shiro asked turning to the boy. He was covered In Lance's blood and was quite pale.

"Are you okay?"

"I-" Keith started.

"Keith?" Pidge cautioned.

Then everything went black. 

* * *

"Keith!" Shiro raced to catch him as he fell forward. Pidge shut her mouth and was absolutely still. Hunk was standing near by, ready to provide help. Coran was preparing another pod and Allura was comforting Pidge.

As Shiro caught him, Keith slumped forward onto his chest.

"Coran! We-"

"It's ready!"

He rushed Keith to the pod as Keith stopped breathing. 

The transparent wall slid shut  and everything was silent.

After what seemed like hours, Hunk spoke up.

"What happened to Keith?"

"I-i don't know, Hunk." Shiro responded. "Pidge, could you, maybe, get the video-"

She pulled out a tablet. "Already on it."

She tapped away at the tablet, trying to find the exact moment.

"Got it!"

She inched over towards Shiro and Coran. She played the clip.

 

As Keith went to cut off the druids head, he was shot by black lightning. He stumbled backwards then went for it again and cut off the head. Haggar hadn't noticed any of what happened, and it seems that Keith didn't realize he as shot either.

"That would explain it..." Hunk mumbled.

"What?" Pidge questioned. "Explain what??"

"When he laid Lance down, I saw his hands moving seemingly uncontrollably. I thought he was just worried."

Pidge had stopped talking. She was staring at the screen. The clip had continued, and it was showing Lance being tortured. She couldn't look away.

Shiro grabbed the tablet and turned it off.

"We don't need to see it again." 

There was a hissing noise and everybody turned around. Keith opened his eyes and started to walk forward and in the process, he ended up falling. Luckily, Hunk, once again came to help. He caught Keith and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't scare us like that!"

"mm... H-how long?" Keith mumbled.

"About an hour." Pidge supplied.

"N-not me.."

"Of course Paladin! Lance should be out in two quintant."

Keith let go of Hunk.

"Two d-days..?"

"Well, he has a lot of-"

" _I know."_ Keith snapped.

"Keith-" Shiro started.

"Why was I the one in the pod? Shouldn't Lance be in the pod?" He looked around for Lance's pod. As soon as his eyes passed him the tension left his shoulders.

"Keith you were sho-shot with the lightning." Pidge answered. "and Lance will be fine."

"I was shot with lightning?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"It's not important, Keith. You need to be more careful next-" Shiro was cut off by Allura's sudden outburst.

"You shouldn't have even gone out in the first place, Keith! We were already comin-"

"Sorry,  _princess,"_ he spat the word like it were poison. "But, if I hadn't gone out to save Lance like I did, he coul- he could be- HE COULD'VE BEEN DEAD RIGHT NOW INSTEAD OF A POD!"

Everyone froze. They hadn't expected Keith or Allura to freak.

"I think we all just need to take a little break. We've been through a lot today, everyone get some rest." Shiro said, before someone would get hurt. 

Everyone left the room except for Keith. He decided he would wait until Lance was out of the pod. That's when he would leave. 

* * *

_Haggar grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. She dragged her claws down his face._

_"Open. The. Lion."_

_"N-never." He spat._

_He was useless. Vulnerable. Weak. He would never get out of this place._

_Black lightning surged from Haggar's hands and into his chest._

* * *

Keith looked up at the sound of whimpers.

"Lance?"

A hiss of pain.

"Lance!"

Keith jumped to his feet. As he started reached the pod, the whimpers stopped. Lance was calm again.

How long had it been since Keith slept? Ate? He wasn't sure. Keith sat back down and stared at Lance, as if his eyes would fix everything.

_You can get through this Lance. You can get through anything._

Keith sat on the floor, hands holding him up. His eyes started to drift shut.

_How long has it been anyways?_

Shiro walked in at the moment Keith's eyes drifted shut. 

Shiro sighed, and walked over to Keith. He picked him up and started walk out of the room.

"S-shiro?" Keith mumbled.

"Yea?"

"I-i need to g-go back-" Keith struggled.

"You need sleep, and you need food. Lance will be in there for another few days."

He stopped struggling. "What? Coran said-"

"His calculations were off. There were more injuries than we could-" he gulped. "than we could see."

"Oh..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Keith. Just get some sleep. When you wake up go eat."

"mm." He had already started to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Cookies can be the death of us.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never make Pidge second to receive cookies. Never. There will be consequences if you do.

Shiro dropped Keith off at his room and put him in the bed. After making sure he was secure in the bed he left for the kitchen.

He walked in to find Hunk cooking and Pidge typing on a tablet. Again.

Hunk looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps.

"Hey-"

"Hello. Is Keith alright?" Hunk asked, desperate for an answer.

"He just-"

"He just needs to get over his sexual feelings for Lance and he'll be fine."

"Pidge!" Hunk and Shiro gasped in horror.

"Oh, please. It's not like I'm the only one who's noticed it."

"Pidge, Keith is just worried over-"

Pidge cut Shiro off once more.

"Let me finish. It's incredibly clear that they love each other, Shiro. This 'rivalry'," she did finger quotes in the air, "is clearly just some lie Lance made up so he could hide his truuuue feelings. Keith and Lance, are once more, clearly in-"

She stopped as soon as Keith walked in.

"Keith! I just put you-"

" _What are we in?"_  Keith snarled.

"The castle. You're both safe and sound in the castle. hahah help hahaha."

"Hey Keith!" Hunk broke the uneasy silence with his cheerfulness.

"What."

"You want some cookies?"

"...Cookies?"

"Yep!"

"HUNK! WHY WAS HE OFFERED FIRST!" Pidge screamed in outrage.

"He hasn't eaten in days, Pidge. I'm feeding him fi-" Hunk looked up only to see that Keith had dissapeared.

"Looks like you lost him. I'm bringing some food to him. He doesn't want to leave Lance's side until he wakes up." Shiro responded.

"I literally just told you why, Sh-"

Shiro was already gone.

"Why do they keep fu-"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Hunk screamed.

* * *

 

Keith was sitting in front of Lance's cryo pod asleep as his pod hissed open.

Lance stumbled out and tripped over the curled up ball in front of his pod.

"What the-"

The figure just groaned and curled into a tighter ball.

"Wha-?" Lance looked closer.

Was that.. Keith? He looked terrible. His hair was tangled in a billion knots, dark bags were under his eyes and he looked a lot thinner than he was when Lance last saw him.

"L-lanc-" he mumbled in his sleep.

"Mullet?"

Keith's eyes opened. He tried to sit up only to fall back down again. He lifted his head to see why he couldn't get up and his cheeks turned bright red.

"Wh-why a-a-are you on to-top of me??" he yelled in outrage.

He still looked sleepy, and he didn't realize it was Lance.

"Wa-wait. Lance?"

"Why were you laying in front of the- wait. Why was I in a pod?"

"Oh, uh, you, uh..er..."

As Keith tried to find the words, the memories started coming back to Lance.

"oh..."

Lance wanted to shrink into himself. He was ashamed of the events that came to pass, even if it wasn't his fault.

 _It was my fault. I got captured, I got hurt, and Keith risked his life for me against two druids and Haggar! Keith wasn't- no, isn't expandable. Me? I am expan_ -

"Lance?"

"Yea?"

"Can you get off of me?"

"Oh! Is Keith not strong enough to push me off?"

"Try. Me."

Lance just wanted the warm feeling of Keith's hands on him after being away from him for so long. Keith brought up his hands, and put them on Lance's side.

Lance winced.

Keith immediately dropped his hands. "Lance? Are you okay? Did I hurt you? Are you not fully healed? Is it-"

"I'm fine." Lance lied. He pushed himself off of the ground and put an arm out for Keith.

Keith just stared at it. He wasn't sure what to do.

"Are you just going to stare or do you want me to take it back?"

"No, I just-" He took his hand and he got to his feet.

"You just?"

"Nothing. Are you sure you're alright? You turned extremly pale when I touched your si-"

" _I'm fine."_ Lance snapped.

"Really? What if I do this..?"

He brought up his hand to Lance's side once more. Lance flinched when he touched him.

"Mullet, I'm fine." He responded, his playful voice returning.

"Mmm."

"Besides, if I wasn't alright, don't you think I would have sai-"

Keith had moved closer to Lance, obvious relief in his tired eyes.

"Keith...?"

Keith was on his tiptoes now.

"Why are you-?"

"Bend down. Just a little bit."

"Okay..?" Lance did as asked. He thought he knew what Keith was about to do.

Lance dipped his head down, looking into the dark purple eyes of Keith.

"Are you..?"

Keith raised his face to Lance's.

Keith's mouth touched Lance's. Lance's hands slid down to pull Keith closer and Keith's hand went towards Lance's neck.

They immediately separated after they heard snickering. Looking at eachother, Lance could see Keith was extremly red, and figured he looked the same in Keith's eyes.

"Did you-"

"Yes. I think Pidge might be-"

"In the intercom?" she supplied.

"Yea, in- wait."

"Did you see that, Pidge?" Lance asked.

"Nope, nope not one bit, no siree not me yes i did, not at all."

"I heard a yes, Katie." Keith spat. He could feel the heat rising to his face once more.

What just happened? More importantly, did he want it to happen again?

"I,uh,we,um-"

For once in his life, Lance was at a loss for words.

"I KNEW IT!" Pidge screamed, "YOU DO LO-" and the rest of what she said was cut out by static.

Shiro walked in the infirmary, and looked between Lance and Keith.

"You guys were-"

Keith nodded.

"Are you-"

Lance nodded and waved him out.

"Allura wants us all at dinner. I'll tell them you're awake, Lance."

The door shut behind him as he left.

Pidge was jumping up and down. She just watched them kiss. She needed to tell Hunk, Coran, Allura and Shir-

"I KNEW IT! YOU DO-" and she no longer heard them.

"Why is there static??" Pidge started typing at an unnatural rate on her computer.

"Because I un-plugged it." Hunk answered her question.

"They want privacy, Katie. We can't intrude on this, no matter how much you want too."

"But Huuuuunnk-"

"Come on. I finished dinner."

He seized Pidge's wrist and walked towards the dining room.

"Fine," she huffed and walked beside him, wrist still in his hand.

* * *

As soon as Shiro left and the door closed, Lance walked back up to Keith.

"Mullet?"

"I,um, I'm going to go -uhm-" he stammered.

"I've never seen you stammer, Keith.."

Lance lightly forced his head up. He gazed into Keith's eyes.

"Keith."

Keith just stared back.

"Keith."

"I-... I should've let Pidge get the cookies first.."

Lance laughed and draped his arm over Keith's waist.

"We, uhm, we should go..." Keith said, turning bright red.

"Is Keithy-poo embarrassed?" Lance teased.

"...no..."

"Sure, sure."

They left the room, Lance grinning like a maniac, and Keith hiding his face in his boyfriend's chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for having too change the title. i didn't realize i used it twice.


	5. Our hearts are one.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood trailed down Keith's neck.  
> "Keith!"  
> He looked again, and it was gone.  
> Why were his eyes tricking him?  
> Keith was fine. He was standing in front of Lance, absolutely fine.  
> Was Lance okay, though?

______Entering the dining room had been the easy part. Receiving hugs that took the breath out of him? That was the hard part.

"Lance!" Hunk had screamed as he entered the room, arm wrapped around Keith.

Keith's face was still hidden in Lance's jacket, his face unseeable to anyone.

Hunk, Pidge and Shiro had rushed over to give their fellow Paladin an enormous hug.

Keith managed to slip out before that happened, into his normal seat at the table.

"Can't...breathe.." Lance wheezed.

All them let go.. except for Pidge.

She was on the verge of tears. Forcing them down, she forced herself to speak, not letting go of his waist. She looked up to him.

"Lance," she had started crying silently, "don't d-do that to u-us ag-again," she sniffled.

Lance had a startled expression on his face that quickly turned into a smile.

"Awww. Was my little Pidgeon worried?"

She lightly punched him in the side continuing to cry.

Lance flinched.

"Lance?" Shiro asked "Are you-"

Lance had stopped hearing what Shiro said. He was focused on keeping his breaths in check. He faintly felt a hand on his back and arms going tighter around his waist. hy. What was happening?

_**My Pilot?** _

_yea_

**_What is wrong?_ **

_I, uhm,-_

**_My Pilot?_ **

 

**_My Pil- Lance?!_ **

__

* * *

As soon as Hunk came forward for the hug, he slipped from Lance's grasp and walked over to his chair. Keith was not getting involved in any more hugs. Not after earlier today...

_He went up on his tip toes._

_"Bend down. Just a little bit."_

_The handsome brown haired boy did as asked."Okay..?"_

_He gazed into Lance's bright, happy blue eyes and raised his mouth to Lance's._

_The next thing he knew, Lance's mouth was on his. He could smell Lance's salt water, flowery scent as he breathed, keeping his mouth-_

Allura gave him an odd look.

"Why is your face red?" She asked, pointing her fork at his cheeks. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I-uh- we , uh-"

"Lance?" Keith turned to look at Shiro, then Lance. "Are you okay?"

Lance didn't answer him. He was staring at the wall behind Keith. Pidge had tightened her grip on Lance, and Hunk came to run circles on Lance's back. He was turning extremly pale.

Keith started to stand up. Walking towards Lance, he could see sweat running down his forehead.

"Lance? What's wron-"

"NO!" Lance started struggling wildly.

Keith stopped in his tracks, in Lance's arms length.

Pidge immediately let go and backed up. Hunk followed her lead. Shiro just stood watching, and Allura was standing up.

Keith just stood there. Watching him breathe rapidly. He had stopped struggling. That was good.... wait. Was he re-living what Haggar did to him?

"KEITH!" He cried.

Everyone stood wide-eyed at the brunet who just yelled Keith.

Lance had tears running down his face. Keith just stood there, unable to respond.

Lance slid to his knees.

"YOU STUPID-"

"Lance," Keith cut him off.

"FU-"

"LANCE!" Keith tried, once more trying to pry him from whatever memory he was in.

Lance blinked, looking around.

"Wha-?" He saw Keith kneeling in front of him. "Keith?"

"Yea."

Lance pulled him into a hug. Keith flinched at the sudden physical content, his face in complete shock. He gently and slowly wrapped his hands around Lance's bent over back.

His shoulders were shaking as he cried, pulling Keith closer.

"L-lance," He started. Keith hated seeing Lance cry. It was cute and all, but it made his heart shatter into pieces. "What's wr-"

"K-ke-Keith?" He choked out, in between sobs.

"Yea, Lance?"

"Is it really-?"

"Yes," Keith snapped, a little impatiently. He wanted to get out of the physical contact. It was making him uncomfortable. "What is it? Why are you crying?"

"I-i didn't realize I was c-crying." He managed.

"I-" Keith started but was cut off by Shiro.

"It's fine to cry, Lance. Could you tell us what just happened?"

Lance hesitated. He wasn't sure what to say. "I-i don't think so, no."

_I'm so stupid. I'm on my knees hugging Keith and crying because of some stupid memory.. no, illusion I came up with and I can't even tell them why._

**_My Pilot is not stupid! My Pilot is brace, funny, strong-_ **

_So you've said._

"Lance?" Keith asked, poking his back.

"Yea?"

"Can you, uh-"

"Oh. Sorry." He released his hands from Keith's waist. No matter how much he wanted to memorize the smell of Keith, the feel of his hair, and what he looked like, he knew Keith was starting to get uncomfortable.

Lance raised himself from the floor, dragging Keith up with him.

"Why is everyone just standing around like that?" Lance asked, his usual smiley , cocky personality back.

Keith groaned. He did not want to deal with Lance tonight. No matter how hard he tried, his thoughts kept going back to his tan skin and blue eyes. 

Lance grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the table. Keith yelped receiving a few quizzical looks.

Lance turned to face him after putting him in the seat beside him with a confused look.

"What?" He asked, reaching for his fork.

"You yelped."

"I didn't expect you to grab my wrist." He snapped.

"You yelped." He repeated.

"And?"

"Why did you yelp?"

"I just told you." Keith grumbled.

"That's not why."

Keith huffed. He was extremely annoyed, yet loving arguing with him at the same time.

"Come on Keeeeith. Teellll meeee."

Pidge snickered, while Hunk watched while eating. Shiro and Allura were having a conversation, and Coran was watching them.

"I didn't expect you -"

"Tell me!" He yelled, a grin spreading across his face as he jumped onto him knocking over his chair.

"Lance!" Keith yelled.

Everyone turned their heads to see what was going on.

"Keith!" Lance mocked.

Lance grabbed hold of Keith's wrist and jerked it towards him. Keith hissed in pain.

"I knew there was another reason!" Lance announced. Realizing he was still hurting Keith, he put his wrist back down.

He got back up and put out his hand for Keith.

"I probably just slept on-"

"Or you twisted it when I fell on it."

"You landed on my stomach-"

"It was your wrist, actually. You were still really dazed when you noticed someone was on you."

Keith sighed in annoyance and accepted the hand.

Shiro gave him a concerned look.

"What?" He asked, fixing his chair and sitting back down.

"May I-?" He started, but Keith had already come over to where Shiro sat and handed him his wrist.

Shiro inspected his wrist. He started pressing his fingers firmly enough for Keith to cry out when he got to the twisted part.

Half way when he yelled in pain, Keith clamped his hand over his mouth.

He turned his head to see his team mates, and they had gone back to eating. All, except for Lance. Lance looked worried.

After pressing a little more, Shiro let go.

"Does it feel-"

"It feels fine." Keith snapped, returning to his spot.

"Keith, if I-" Shiro started to say, but Keith had pushed himself from the table, leaving the room.

* * *

 

Silence filled the room as they watched the Red Paladin storm out of the room.

After a few minutes of staring at the doorway, Hunk broke the silence.

"What just happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," Shiro admitted, starting to get up from his chair.

Lance had beaten him to it. He had gotten up to follow Keith as he jogged out of the room.

* * *

"Keith?" Lance asked, knocking on his door.

No response.

"Keith, I know you're in there. You're door slid shut as I came around the corner."

Lance knocked again.

"I'm not going to leave! I'll get Blue to last the door open, if I-"

"Go away." Keith said, muffled by the wall seperating them.

"Keith-"

" _What._ " He snapped, opening the door.

"What's wrong with you today? First, you're asleep by my pod, then we, uh, yea, and then your wrist is spontaneously hurt, and you storm off because Shiro was asking if you felt fine?"

"You said-"

"I know what I said. I lied."

"Why?" Keith asked softly.

"You obviously hurt it sparring or something and I knew Shiro would be pissed!"

"I-"

"Now answer my question!" Lance snapped.

Keith was startled by Lance's reaction. Lance was never mad, not even while they bickered.

"Keith."

"I-i don't know." He answered honestly.

Lance pushed past him and into the room.

"Lan-" He protested.

"What? Afraid of a little ocean smell?" He teased.

"You were just super pissed. Why are-"

Lance cut him off by grabbing the front of Keith's shirt and bending down to kiss him.

Keith was , once again, startled by the reaction. He slowly eased into this mouth-to-mouth session as Lance gently slid his hands onto his lower back. Keith wrapped his hands around Lance's neck. 

Lance broke away from Keith and removed one hand from his back. He placed it onto Keith's extremly cold cheek and stared into his purple eyes.

"Why are you so cold?" Lance whispered.

"I don't know."

Lance slid his hand under Keith's shirt.

"Hey!"

"You're freezing. Why are you freezing?"

Keith shrugged. "I feel pretty warm."

Lance could see blood dripping down Keith's neck.

He removed his hands from around Keith, and Keith unclasped his hands.

"Keith? Why is there blood on your neck?"

* * *

 

Keith looked at Lance, then down to his neck.

"What blood?" He asked, seeing no sign he was bleeding.

"T-the trail th-that's on your nec-neck.." 

"What?" He looked down once more, then felt his own skin. Warm.

"Lance? Are you okay?"

"Me? You're asking if I'm okay??? You're freezing and your neck-" He looked back up.

"Oh my God." 

"What?" Keith looked down, another time. "There's nothing there Lance."

Lance looked into Keith's eyes. They looked extremly... confused?

Why was he confused? There was a damn cut across his neck!

Lance looked back to his cut-

"What?" Lance asked. The cut was gone. The blood had dissapeared.

He tried blinking a few times. 

"Lance? Are you okay?"

He blinked the memory away. "Uh, Yea. Yea, sorry to freak you out."

He started walking closer to Keith again, but Keith had backed up a tiny bit, the moment clearly passing.

"No, no, no. I'm tired." Keith pointed to the bags under his eyes. He then pointed towards the bed, and motioned him to follow.

"Um, Keith if we're about to ha-"

"NO!" Keith screamed, clearly scared by the thought. "I just want you to be in the same bed!"

Lance laughed. His reaction was amazing. He took Keith's hand and sat on the bed, moving towards the wall to make room for Keith. Keith sat beside him and laid his head on Lance's chest. 

The steady movement of Lance's chest provoked a smile on Keith's face. Lance wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulders and managed to kick off his shoes, revealing red socks.

"Red?" Keith mumbled into Lance's shirt.

"Yea. Love that colour. Just like-" He looked down. Keith's eyes were closed. He rubbed Keith's shoulders then laid his head against the wall. 

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_She grabbed his chin and forced him to look up. He was kneeling on the ground, staring at a bloody boy before him. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and the boy was laying in his own huge pool of blood._

_Lance forced chin out of Haggar's grip and snarled at her._

_"You b-"_

_"One more peep, Blue Paladin, and I will carve out his heart."_

_Lance stopped talking. He didn't dare risk the boy's life, whoever he was._

_"Now. Where were we?" She raised her hand towards the boy that lay on the ground._

_Lance tried desperately to get his hands free of the cuffs , but they would not budge._

_"No," he choked out, "P-please."_

_Haggar just laughed at the petty statement. She shot black lightning at the boy._

_The boy screamed in pain._

_"No!"_

_She lowered her hand and left the room, locking the door that lead to the hallway._

_Lance managed to get on his very unsteady feet and ran over to the boy. He fell to his knees._

_The boy tried to turn to face the noise that was behind him, but he couldn't gather the energy. All he could manage was to turn his head slowly, so his body would follow his lead. It didn't._

_The cuffs suddenly sprang off of Lance's hands, and he gently moved the boy's body for him._

_He didn't want too see the boy's front, but he had to help him._

_As he turned his body, he saw the boy's face._

_"L-la-Lance?" the boy said, barely above a whisper._

_"Keith," Lance gasped "How- what-?" He closed his mouth as he saw Keith's chest._

_What had Haggar done to him?_

* * *

 

Lance woke up in a pool of water. Wait, no. It was his sweat. Why was he sweating? It was cold in the room. He sat up and heard a motionless figure groan at the movement.

He looked beside him to see Keith lying down beside him without blood on him. He looked to his chest. It was moving fine, and clean of any cuts.

Keith's head had rolled into Lance's lap when he sat up. What had he just dreamed? Why was Keith's- Keith's chest filled with-

"L-lance...no..."

"Wha-?"

He looked down at Keith. Why were his eyebrows furrowed together? He was sweating, just like Lance had. He was starting to roll off the bed. Before he could, Lance grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. 

He felt Keith's eyes flutter open at an alarming speed against Lance's shirt.

"W-what?" He tried to pull away, but Lance just held him tighter and closed his eyes.

He dropped his hands and struggled against the firm grip. 

"Keith. It's fine. You're fine. Everything is fine. It's L-"

"L-lance?" Keith asked , stopping his struggling.

"Yea."

Keith draped his hands around Lance's back, and sobbed silently into his shirt.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, rubbing circles onto his back.

He stopped sobbing and looked up to Lance with watery eyes.

"Keith?"

"You can't scare me like that again, Lance."

"What?"

"You almost died." He released his grip and stared into Lance's blue eyes.

"I-"

"You can't scare me like that again."

"I w-"

"Promise me."

"I, uh, I promise."

"Good," he mumbled sleepily.

"Go back to sleep, Keith. I'm right here."

"'kay..." he lowered himself back onto the bed, then placed his head on Lance's chest once more. He placed a hand on Lance's stomach then fell asleep, Lance's arm wrapped loosely around Keith's shoulders.

Lance stared at the ceiling wide awake. He looked at the clock Pidge had built for him to read human hours. It read '6:24am'.

He doubted he would get more sleep, after that last dream, and he was right. He listened to Keith's breathing and waited for him to wake up.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the incredibly long chapter. I needed to get the words out of my head.  
> (by the way, no, they did not have sex)


	6. The Beat of my Heart.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, even the toughest of them all needs to be carried.  
> ...  
> ...  
> literally.

"Keith!" Pidge yelled.

She slammed her fist on the door.

"Hurry up! You can't sleep all day!"

_God, why does he have to be so annoying?!?_

**_Human boys will be like that._ **

Pidge snorted in reply to her Lion. She had learned that phrase from Pidge.

"KEI-"

The door slid open, revealing a bedheaded Keith in blue boxers and a black shirt.

The bags under his eyes had nearly dissapeared, and his frame was becoming less thin.

"What?" Keith hissed, clearly annoyed that she had woken him up.

"Allura wants us all to come for breakfast. Hurry up!" she yelled.

"I just woke up."

"Whatever. I've got to go get Lance, anyways." Pidge snarled back, turning around heading for Lance's room.

"No need."

"What?" Pidge asked, turning at the new voice coming from Keith's room.

"Lance. I said to stay in the bed!"

"...The bed?" Pidge asked, her curiosity growing wider.

"He's embarrased of our-"

Keith clamped a hand over Lance's mouth.

Pidge just stared at them, a horrific thought coming to mind.

"Were... you... having... sex..?"

Keith's eyes went wide at the assumption and Lance had started to scream bloody murder.

"OHMYGODNOPIDGEWHYWOULD YOUEVENASSUMETHATOHMYGOD."

(Oh my God Pidge why would you even assume that oh my God.)

"Keith told you to stay in the bed, you're in the same room, and you only have shorts on!"

Keith still just stood there.

"JUST GO! OHMYGOD."

Pidge turned around and went to the dining room.

* * *

 

"Lance!"

"What?"

"You were supposed to stay in the room!"

"Why?"

"Because I- uh-"

"Is Keith speechless for once?"

Keith glared at him.

"Oh, whatever." Keith muttered.

Keith dragged Lance back into the room, pushing him on the bed.

"What-"

"Did you even sleep last night?"

Lance didn't respond. He couldn't look him in the eye and answer truthfully.

"Lance."

"Yes?"

"Did. You. Sleep."

"..no.."

"Lance!"

"I couldn't! Not after-" Lance broke off, remembering his terrifying dream.

"After what?"

Once again, there was no reply.

"After what." He repeated himself.

"Nothing. Just-"

Keith threw a pillow over his head.

"What was that for?"

"You didn't answer me!"

"So?"

Keith huffed and stood up, facing Lance still.

_I wonder..._

**_What is it, My Lance?_ **

_You're about to see._

A mischievous grin started to form on Lance's face.

"What?" Keith asked, turning around heading for his dresser.

Lance quickly shot up from the bed and cutting off Keith's path.

"What are you doing?"

Lance draped his arms over Keith's waist and clasped his hands together.

"Wha-?"

Lance picked him up and threw him over his shoulder.

"HEY!" Keith protested, punching Lance's back and kicking wildly. "LEGGO!"

"Ouch, and no!" Lance screamed, jogging out of the room, Keith over his shoulders. 

Every time Keith struggled, Lance held tighter.

Sighing in frustration, Keith crossed his arms and stopped struggling.

"You'll have to let go eventually," Keith muttered.

"Nope! You *huff* weigh as much as a *huff* kitten!"

"Are you serious?!?"

"No. But, you still don't weigh a lot!" Lance answered, continuing to jog towards the dining room.

* * *

 

Pidge had entered the room, huffing and puffing from the run.

"Pidge?" Shiro asked, "What's wron-"

"KEITH AND LANCE ARE OFFICIALLY DATING!" she screamed.

Hunk dropped his hands down on the table in complete shock.

"Hunk?" Allura asked, rather concerned. "Are you okay?"

Hunk ignored her question and got to his feet, a wide grin spreading across his face. He had started to dance.

"YAHCHACHACHACHACHAHEY," Hunk screamed, as he and Pidge formed a conga line.

Coran looked up. "What is that... walk you are doing?"

"It's a dance from earth," Shiro answered.

"Oh!" Allura shouted, grabbing Shiro's wrist and dragging him towards the line. "We shall join!"

"But, I-" Shiro protested.

Coran had joined as well, enthusiastic about the earth dance.

At that moment, Lance had walked in, Keith on his shoulders.

Hunk had stopped the dance and they were going to sit back down.

"Hey, Hunk!" Lance shouted gleefully.

"Hey." Hunk replied, not looking up. "Where's Keith?"

Lance just laughed in response. Hunk raised his head to see the others were just watching Lance walk in.

He finally looked at Lance, and saw a pair of legs dangling in front of his chest.

"Lance, please put me down now."

"Nah, I'm good."

Keith huffed in annoyance, and let himself be carried to his seat.

Lance had passed Keith's seat, not putting Keith down.

"Where are you-?"

"You'll see. Allura?"

"Yes, Lance?"

"Would you mind if Keith and I skip out on breakfast?"

"Hey!" Keith protested.

"Go and do what you must," she agreed, grinning.

"Thanks!" Lance carried Keith out of the room as he started to protest again.

* * *

Keith's stomach had started to cramp, and he was getting light headed.

"La-Lance," he groaned.

Lance continued to walk towards , well, wherever he was going.

"L-lance,"

"Yes?"

"Ca-can you p-put me do-down now?"

"Naw."

"P-please?"

Lance shook his head, accidentally bonking it into Keith's ribs.

Keith just groaned. His stomach started to ache. He tried pushing himself off of Lance, to no avail.

Continuing his walk, Lance stumbled, shaking  Keith.

Keith hissed in pain, causing Lance to stop.

"Keith? Are you okay?" he asked, setting him on his feet.

"I-i don't kn-know," he admitted.

As Lance put Keith down, Keith nearly fell.

Lance caught his arm before he could hit the ground.

"Keith?"

Keith didn't answer. His face had gone pale, and his arms had started to shake. 

Lance grabbed his arms gently to make him still.

"Where does it hurt?" Lance asked.

"R-ri..." he started, but was cut off by his own harsh breathing.

"Ribs?" Lance asked.

Keith just nodded.

Lance lifted Keith's shirt up, and Keith flinched.

"What?"

Keith shook his head.

Lance started to poke the run area, waiting for the spot Keith would cry out in.

As Lance place his hand on the spot near his heart, Keith cried out, then quickly threw his hand over his mouth, muffling his scream.

"What did you do?" Lance asked, removing his hand.

"I don't know.. maybe it was the training simulation?"

"If it is, you've got that level way too high." Lance told him, making his point very clear.

Lance unbent himself, and faced Keith.

"You're a flipping red shirt."

"I am not a fuc-"

"You are. You risked your life to come save me, getting zapped by a druid in the process-"

"But I-"

"Shush. You nearly broke your wrist in a training simulation, and you broke a freaking rib in the same simulation!"

"So?"

"Red. Shirt."

Keith huffed and started to walk back towards the eating area. Just about to leave the hallway they were in, Keith fell.

"Keith!" Lance had slid into his knees to catch Keith.

"Keith?"

"...ye..a..?"

He looked like he was about to pass out. "Just hang in there, okay? I'll get you to a pod."

Keith shook his head. "...n...no..."

Lance was shocked. He didn't expect him to say no. "Why not?"

"n...not a...after las...last time...." Keith said, spitting blood out.

Lance choked down a sob. Keith must be bleeding internally.

"Ke-"

Keith passed out.

* * *

Minutes after Lance left, they all just stared at the door.

Finally, Pidge broke the silence.

"Where do you think they're going?"

"Lance said something about wanting to kick Keith's ass on the training deck the other day." Hunk supplied.

"Should we watch them?" Allura asked.

"YES!" Pidge screamed, grabbing Hunk's wrist, dragging him along.

* * *

As Keith passed out, Lance put his arms under his arms and knees.

Lance got out of his kneeling position to stand up.

"I don't care what you say... you need a pod." Lance whispered, unintentionally.

Walking out of the hallway with Keith in his arms, he bumped into Pidge and Hunk.

It took Pidge and Hunk a moment to realize what lance was doing.

"WHAT THE HELL, LANCE?"

Lance pushed past them to the infirmary.

Not bothering to see if Pidge and Hunk had followed him, he turned a corner that lead to the infirmary.

"Pidge," Lance gasped, "Do you know how to set up a pod?"

"Yea-" She said, racing off to set one up.

"Hunk, go tell Coran that Keith has a broken rib, and spat up blood before he passed out."

Hunk nodded and ran towards the dining room.

"Pidge?"

"Ready!"

Lance placed Keith gently into the pod and collapsed onto his back.

"Lance?"

"He's heavy..." Lance muttered.

"What happened?"

"I-i don't know," Lance admitted, trying to breathe properly. "He winced when I stumbled carrying him. I checked him out, and he had a broken rib. I think he's bleeding-" Lance forced down another sob, "internally."

Pidge just stood there for a few seconds.

"Ho-" She was cut off by Shiro rushing in.

"What happened?" Shiro asked, a look of concern and worry on his face.

"He- I don't know what happened, but he has a broken rib and he's probably bl-bleeding internally."

"Did he say anything about it before?"

"No. It might've been the same way he nearly broke his wrist."

"Training"

"Yea, maybe."

Lance huffed, trying to regain his breaths.

They all just stood there for a little while, watching their Red Paladin breathe calmly.

"Okay!" Allura clasped her hands together, gathering all of their attention. "Coran and I have a new training program that you are ready for!"

"Ah, yes. I remember when the old Paladins did that training excercise. It was complete chaos."

Allura just laughed at the comment, getting a look of curiosity from Shiro.

"What is it?"

"It's kind of like a memory game." Allura answered, gesturing them to follow.

Lance sat there not moving, staring at the motionless Keith.

"Lance?" Allura asked.

"Mm?"

"You can stay here if you want,"

Lance nodded. "Thank you, Princess."

Allura left him to watch over Keith.

A few minutes after Allura had left, the pod opened and let Keith out.

"Wha-?"

Lance raced to catch him before he hit the ground, and Keith's head hit his lap.

"Keith?" Lance asked.

Keith's eyes were closed.

"Keith?" Lance asked again, instantly panicked.

He couldn't feel Keith's chest moving. He pressed his fingers against the tip of Keith's nose.

Keith wasn't breathing.

__

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm such a jerk to the characters.


	7. The Light of My Life.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance watched Keith die. Did he really have to see him die again?

* * *

"KEITH!" Lance screamed, shaking his shoulders fiercly.

Keith's head was hanging backwards. His body was limp in Lance's arms.

Lance's tears fell to the floor. He couldn't lose Keith. The pod was supposed to help him, not hurt him!

"Keith!" he cried, once more, still shaking him.

"CORAN! SHIRO! SOMEONE!"

The other Paladins couldn't hear the useless calls Lance was making due to their distance, so Lance had to save him on his own.

"Come on buddy..." Lance muttered.

He gently placed him on the ground and felt for a pulse.

There was none.

Lance had started to panic. He ignored the painful thumping of his heart as he started to perform cpr.

After about 3 minutes, Keith's heart still hadn't beat.

Keith was dead.

Lance just stared at the body before him. He couldn't do anything to save Keith, no matter how much he wanted too. Keith was dead, and it was Lance's fault.

Lance hugged Keith's body tight to his own. The warmth of his body was gone.

Lance would never see that stupid mullet of his, or those purple eyes ever again. 

Lance let his sobs loose. He couldn't keep them down. Keith meant everything to him, and he just lost Keith.

"Lance!" Shiro yelled, running into the room. "What happened?"

None of the others came. It was only Shiro. 

Lance couldn't answer. Nothing mattered anymore. Keith was gone. Lance continued to sob into his hands , Keith's body on his lap.

Shiro took in the scene. "Lance! What did you do?!"

Lance knew Shiro would blame him. He messed up everything.

"I-"

Shiro grabbed the back of Lance's shirt.

"It's your fault."

Lance continued to cry.

"You don't belong here." Pidge chipped in.

"You're no body." Coran told him.

"No body loves you." Allura added.

"Not even Keith." Hunk finished.

Everything went black. The 5 heads were circling around him as he sobbed into his hands.

Keith was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

Lance stumbled out of the pod, dried tears streaming his face.

"Wha-?" Lance started, as he fell into Hunk's arms.

"Lance!" Hunk yelled, hugging him tightly.

**_My Lance! You are okay!_ **

_Blue..?_

Hunk had cut off his mind conversation with Blue when Lance couldn't breathe.

He tried to push away but Hunk would not budge. He didn't realize he was choking Lance, so he didn't want to let go.

"Hunk!" Pidge screamed, seeing Lance's face turn purple. "He can't breathe!"

Hunk let go. "Sorry!"

Catching his breath, Lance looked around the room.

Allura, Coran, Shiro, Pidge and Hunk were all surrounding him.

_Blue, what's going on?_

**_You have been in a healing pod._ **

_But I came out of it-_

**_Those were all dreams._ **

_So, if those were dreams-_

**_The Red Paladin you admire so is still alive._ **

_Lance looked around the room again. He couldn't see Keith._

Shiro replied to his unspoken question, seemingly reading his mind.

"Keith is sleeping."

Relief washed over Lance.

"Yea, man. He was in here 24/7. He refused to eat and sleep. He wanted to be here when you woke up, but Shiro forced him to get some rest." Hunk explained.

"And you just happened to wake up when he left." Pidge corrected him.

"I guess I am that hot to stare at.." Lance smiled cockily. 

Pidge dragged her hand over her face, leaving the room.

"Come on. You should get some food in there." Hunk jabbed his stomach lightly.

* * *

Lance didn't have the energy to walk, so Hunk basically had to drag him.

Shiro and Allura were ahead of them and Coran was in the kitchen getting some food goo.

Shiro had his hand around Allura's waist and was laughing at something she said.

"How long have they been together?" Lance asked, very sleepily.

"What? No they- oh wait. Yea. Maybe around a week. I haven't noticed until now." Hunk answered.

"Really? Shiro seems open about it-"

"I was more concerned about you."

"What do you mean? It's been like a day-" Lance stopped talking as he actually thought about what Hunk said. Shiro hadn't been like that to Allura when he left for the beacon.

"It's been two weeks, Lance."

Lance just stared at him. He couldn't have been that hurt.

What if Voltron was needed? They couldn't form Voltron without Lance-

As if reading Lance's mind, Hunk answered "We didn't  need to form Voltron, luckily. Just a few fighter ships came by, and we were camouflaged."

"Oh.."

As they entered the dining room, Lance noticed how hungry he was. His stomach growled.

"Two weeks would do that to you," Shiro said, answering his stomachs phone call.

"I guess."

Lance had mustered enough energy to finally walk on his own, nearly falling face first as he sat down in a chair.

"Wait, wait, wait." Lance said, after eating a few bites. "If it's been two weeks, and Keith refused to eat and sleep-"

"He's completely out of energy. He fell asleep while you were in the pod. I had to carry him to his bed." Shiro answered.

Lance put his food goo down. 

"Doesn't it take, like, a week for you to die of starvation?"

"No. It typically takes about twenty days, and we made sure he drank enough water." Pidge told him, staring at a tablet as she walked in. "Oh, and, bedhead is awake."

Keith walked into the dining room.

"Oh good! #4! You must get some food in you-" Keith waved him off as he tried to get food into his mouth.

"I-I'll be fin-fine," he mumbled.

Lance turned around at the sound of Keith's voice. 

Lance sat in place, just staring at Keith. He looked terrible. He had very dark bags under his eyes, and his shirt that once got him very well, was now way too big for him.

"Why was I dragged out here-" Keith complained, not seeing Lance. "I should be in the med-bay. Is Lance awake ye-" his eyes finally focused on Lance. He turned bright red.

Keith stood there, unsure of what to do. He had waited for Lance to wake up, and when he did, Keith had been sleeping.

"Lance," he breathed.

"Mullet."

Lance had expected him to snap something in defence, but he just stood there.

"You heard him, #4, go eat some food goo." Lance said, flinging some at him.

"Hey!" he protested, obeying Lance.

"This is new," Pidge whispered to Hunk.

"I know, right? Keith never listens to Lance." he whispered back.

They stopped talking as Keith sat down across from Lance, where goo had been placed.

"You got really thin."

Keith nodded.

"How?" Lance asked, trying to antagonize him.

"Worrying about your stupid ass." Keith glared.

Lance dropped his spoon and placed a hand over his heart.

"My feelings! They've been shattered!" He announced, gasping dramatically.

Keith looked to Shiro, completely ignoring Lance. "Can I go now?"

"No. Eat the goo."

Keith huffed and continued shoving goo in his mouth.

Hunk looked at Keith. "You look more tired than you did before."

Keith shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"You said you were sleeping."

"I lied."

"Yea, no you didn't." Shiro added, "I had to carry you to bed. You passed out in front of the pod."

Keith dragged a hand over his face.

"Why do you look more tired than before?" Hunk asked.

"Nightmares?" Shiro, also, asked.

Keith just sighed and kept his hand in his face.

"What were they about? It might help if you-" Lance started.

"It doesn't matter!" Keith snapped, pushing up from the table.

"Keith, he was only trying t-" Pidge tried to explain.

"If he was trying to help, why did his stupid ass end up in a pod?!"

Lance just stared at Keith. He had been genuinely worried for Lance.

Lance knew about his feelings for Keith after that... dream, but he knew Keith wouldn't feel the same way. Why was he worried about Lance?

* * *

 

Keith looked towards Lance. He had gotten paler, and looked hurt. Keith didn't mean to offend Lance, but he was worried about Lance. He didn't want to live without him. He couldn't lose him. Those gorgeous blue eye-

Keith cut off his thoughts.

_Why am I thinking like this?_

Keith stormed out of the room, not wanting to see Lance look at him like that.

He went back to his room and took off Hunk's black shirt. He shoved on his own shirt, and left his room putting the other shirt into Hunk's room.

Grabbing his bayard, he headed for the training deck.

* * *

 

"What was that about?" Lance asked, extremly confused.

"He's just worried." Shiro answered. "I'll go talk to him."

Lance waved his hands. "No, no. I'll talk to him."

"Are you sure?"

Lance nodded. "Where is he?"

"He should be at the training deck."

"Thanks," Lance called as he left the room.

* * *

"Start Level 4!" Keith shouted.

He wasn't feeling good. His stomach was churning, his head was pounding, his legs were getting sore from holding his weight and he was starting to get dizzy.

A robot emerged in the middle of the room. Keith got in a fighting position. The robot charged.

The robot swung his sword up, and Keith threw the sword over his head to block it. The sword flew from his hand and it went back to the bayard form, slidding out the door.

"Dammit."

The robot stabbed out with his sword, aiming for Keith's head, but he rolled away from it. As Keith was starting to get up, the robot kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room.

Keith hit the floor with a painful thud and rolled a few feet from the impact.

He laid there for a moment, catching his breath. It was painful to breathe, and he saw blood dripping down his face.

"End... *huff*" He coughed, unable to finish his sentance.

The robot came at him, ready to strike.

Keith tried to stand up, only to fall back down.

"*huff* End... End tra-" He coughed again.

* * *

 

Lance walked into the training deck to see a robot charge at Keith, sword raised, while Keith was coughing up blood.

"END TRAINING SIMULATION!" Lance shouted, just as the sword had come inches from hitting Keith.

The robot dissapeared, and he ran to Keith's side.

He landed on his knees beside Keith, who was still coughing and didn't acknowledge Lance.

"Keith?"

Keith looked up, trying to stop coughing.

"L-lan-" he tried to say, starting to spit up blood.

"Keith? What happened?"

Keith shook his head, and tried to stop coughing.

"Just- just hold on. Okay?"

Keith nodded. 

Lance helped Keith up, and draped Keith's arm over his shoulder.

_Blue, were those dreams... Were they actually dreams?_

**_I do not think so, My Lance._ **

Lance walked with Keith to the med bay, taking most of his weight.

"You're really light." Lance noticed.

Keith nodded. He had stopped coughing, but still wouldn't talk.

He looked at Keith. There was a cut across his forehead, and blood dripping down his chin. Lance at the lower zone of Keith's body. His hands were covered in blood, and he was holding his side. He stumbled every step he took, and would have fallen if Lance didn't have his weight.

"What level was that?"

Keith raised four fingers.

"Don't do Level four again."

"Y-you don-don't ne-need t-to b-be so prote-protective." He managed, clearly trying not to cough.

"Just focus on breathing, okay?"

Keith nodded.

Lance was panicking. He had watched Keith die once, he wasn't going to watch it happen again.

As Lance reached the ned bay, he found Coran in there.

"Coran!"

"Ah!" Coran turned around, seeing Lance drag Keith. His eyes were nearly closed now. "#3! #4! What happened?"

"Training deck. He needs a pod."

"Of course! Set him on that table first, please." Coran told Lance pointing towards a table.

Lance walked with Keith over to the table, while Coran set up a pod.

"Lay down, please, Keith!"

Keith obliged. He laid down on his back, with Lance's help, and looked into Lance's face.

His eyes were full of worry and sadness. He smiled.

"You'll be okay. Do you hear me?"

Keith nodded. He didn't have the energy to speak. He looked at the details of Lance's face. 

_When did he get that sparkle in his eyes?_

Keith shook the thought out of his head. When did he start seeing Lance like that?

"Keith?"

Keith opened his eyes- When did he close them?

"mm?"

"It appears that you have three broken ribs."

Keith sighed, then instantly regretted it. It hurt. A lot.

He hissed in pain. His eyesight was getting blurry.

"I'm going to put you in a pod, okay?"

Keith nodded.

This time, Lance didn't drag Keith, he picked him up by the arms and legs.

"I'm not ge-getting marr-" he started, then coughed up blood onto Lance's shirt.

"s-sorry..."

"It's fine." He smiled at Keith.

He loved it when Lance smiled. It lit up his entire face-

Keith, once again pushed the thought out of his head. He didn't know what he was thinking. Lance   seemed to hate him. So, why was Keith thinking this way?

Lance placed Keith in the pod.

"You'll be okay."

Since when did Lance get worried about Keith?

The transparent screen that separated them slid shut and Keith passed out.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i'm terrible.:)  
> for those who are wondering-  
> Lance has been dreaming since around chapter three when he first 'came out' of the pod.


	8. Fading Light.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "CORAN!" Shiro shouted through the coms.  
> "Black Paladin," someone breathed. "I was looking forward to meeting you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn't another "OH ITS A DREAM" thing, and the summary was changed from the story a little bit. not much.

Lance stared at Keith's immobile body from his spot on the floor.

"Lance?"

Lance turned his head to see Hunk leaning on the door frame. He turned his head back to Keith. 

"Lance."

"Yes?"

"You can't just wait here forever. You need food. Sleep. Wa-"

"I'll sleep and eat when he eats and sleeps." Lance snapped.

"Fine, whatever." Hunk muttered, starting to walk out of the doorway.

Lance sighed. "No, sorry man. I'm just concerned is all."

"It's fine." Hunk walked back into the room. "How'd he get in there anyways?"

"Level four training simulation."

"I know, but, Shiro just tried it to see what went wrong and it took him a minute to beat the robot."

Lance turned his head to look at Hunk.

"Keith is almost as good as Shiro, and he was coughing up blood."

"I know, man." Hunk started to ramble. "So how does that work? Does the robot just, like, choose how hard it wants to attack against an opponent? No, no, that shouldn't work because we yell the level which shows the strength of the robot. It's not like it can start to magically work on its own like it did when the crystals venom-" Hunk laughed at the memory, "had affected it that last time- man floating in-"

"Hunk!" 

"Sorry, I-"

"It's fine! It's not the rambling! The crystal venom-

Hunk realized what he was saying. "It could still be affecting the training simulation!" Hunk finished.

"We've got to let Coran know," Lance said, getting on his feet. "He could check the monitors in it to-"

Lance was cut off by the hiss of a pod.

* * *

Keith stumbled out of the pod, vision incredibly blurry. He tripped in the rim of the pod, falling face first.

Before he hit the ground, someone caught him and pulled him into a hug.

"Hey!" He yelled in protest. He tried to push himself off, but the man wouldn't let go.

His vision had started to clear and he could see Hunk.

He hated physical contact. He didn't like being hugged this long.

"Hunk," Lance chipped in. "You should let go-"

Hunk put him on the ground, a confused look on his face. Keith's face was in a similar position.

Keith stumbled trying to walk, being caught by Lance.

"Lance?" He asked, extremely confused.

"I-" Lance was cut off by Coran and Pidge walking in the room.

"He should be out in a few ticks-" Coran stopped in his tracks when he saw Keith.

Pidge walked into him, not noticing the sudden stop.

"Ah! #4! You're out early!" Coran announced, as if it weren't obvious.

Keith had an arm draped over Lance's shoulder, Lance taking his weight. He did not have the energy to stand on his own, let alone walk. 

Pidge rushed at him wrapping her arms around his abdomen. Keith lowered one hand on her back and rubbed lightly, not liking the contact.

"Hi."

"Don't 'hi' me!" Pidge yelled, punching his stomach. "You could have died!"

Keith looked down at Pidge's face.

"It was just three ribs-"

"You were coughing blood! You're fuc-"

"OKAY!" Lance shouted, cutting off Pidge's cuss. "You should probably eat," he announced, pulling Pidge's arm off of Keith.

Keith nodded in agreement.

"Hunk?" Lance asked.

"Yea?" 

"Could you let Coran-"

"Oh right. Sure."

Hunk walked off to where Coran was, explaining to him about the crystal venom.

"Let's go then." Lance said, dragging Keith with Pidge trailing behind them.

"I-i can walk-" Keith protested.

"Oh really?"

Keith nodded, trying to remove his hand from Lance's shoulder.

"You're still stumbling while I'm dragging you." Lance acknowledged, tightening his grip on the arm over his shoulder.

Keith sighed in defeat and let himself be dragged.

* * *

"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked, sitting in a chair with goo in front of it.

"He's figuring out why that thing made you-" Pidge gulped, "cough blood."

"What level is he using?"

Lance looked at Pidge curiously. He wanted to know as badly as Keith.

 

 

"I think he's on Level 9 now."

Keith choked on his food. "Nine?!"

Pidge nodded.

"I-" Keith started.

"He nearly died at level 4! How is he at level 9?" Lance shouted.

"The robots are hardly even moving."

Lance looked like he was deep in thought.

"Lance?" Pidge asked.

"Hunk and I think the crystal venom is still affecting the training area. Maybe the robots are choosing when they want to practically kill someone?"

"You might be onto something." Pidge told him. "I'll go help Coran find out if there is." 

Pidge left the room, leaving Lance to watch Keith eat.

Keith looked up. "It's kinda weird to have you just stare at me."

"Your face is weird."

Keith rolled his eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, Lance pipes up. "What do you remember from yesterday?"

Keith tried to recollect the memories from after the fight.

"Uh... You dragged me to the med bay, and it was seriously hard to keep the blood inside, and Coran announced I had three broken ribs like it was he found a billion dollars."

"Is that all?"

"Yea." Keith lied. He also remembered Lance carrying him to the pod. Since when did his noodle arms have the strength to carry him?

"What about before you fought the robot?"

"Hm." Keith tried to think back. "I think I was becoming sick?"

Lance leaned back on the wall, breathing deeply.

"Can you stop watching me eat?" Keith snapped.

"Who knew you could be cranky, Mullet?"

"Why do you keep calling me Mullet?"

"Why do you have that soft thing?"

Keith looked at Lance. He clearly hadn't meant to say that. 

Keith rubbed his mullet subconsciously. "How do you know it's soft?"

Lance looked really nervous. "I-uh, er, I, uhm," he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"Keith! Are you okay?" Shiro asked, rushing in.

Keith turned his head to see Shiro hug him. He shortly let go seeing his uncomfortable face.

"Yea." Keith looked back to where Lance was standing, but he was gone.

"Yea," Keith sighed. "I'm fine."

* * *

 Lance left the dining room as soon as Keith turned his head. He didn't want to say how he knew.

"Lance?"

Lance turned around, once again seeing Hunk. "Yea?"

"I kind of heard that whole conversation."

Lance looked at his feet. "Oh..."

"Yea." Lance looked at Hunk. "I know you've got these feel-"

Lance gasped in fake shock. "What? No! If anything, you have feelings for Keith!"

"What?" Hunk asked, realizing as he said it that Lance had feelings for Keith.

Lance crossed his arms.

"No, man, that's not what I was  going to say."

Lance looked down again, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Oh."

"But it's good you said it!" Pidge shouted coming around the corner. "Now I have blackmail!"

Lance looked towards the voice. He dragged a hand over his face. "God damn it."

Pidge snickered.

"Keith would never believe that, Pidge." 

"He would if I had a recording of it." She snickered once more, waving it in front of her.

"GIVE ME THAT!" Lance screamed, tackling Pidge to the ground.

Hunk sighed. Keith wouldn't figure it out, even if she did make him listen to it.

* * *

After a bunch of questions from Shiro, Keith left the dining room for the training deck.

He swore he could feel someone following him.

After turning a corner, he turned on his heel, bayard ready.

No one.

He turned back around and went, once more, to the training deck.

"I swear to God someone is following me." Keith mumbled, under his breath.

Keith turned around again. He saw a sliver of red disappear.

"What-"

Four robots emerged from the hallway behind him.

" _Quiznack."_ He breathed, activating his bayard.

* * *

"GUYS!" Keith shouted.

Lance stopped tackling Pidge and looked up at his distressed scream.

"Where's Keith?" Lance asked.

"I think he's at the training deck." Hunk answered.

Keith screamed.

"GRAB YOUR BAYARDS!" Lance shouted.

Pidge had hers in her pocket, and Lance's was in his.

"Just meet us there!" Lance told Hunk.

Hunk nodded and ran off for his bayard. 

* * *

"GUYS!" Keith screamed, attacking the robots. "I NE-"

Keith was cut off by a fist going for his chest. Keith ducked and rolled across the hallway. 

There was a bright side to all of this.

He was in the training deck now.

Keith screamed as a robot's sword  stabbed his arm. 

He managed to get two hits on separate robots, but he couldn't get any more. He managed to hit any more hits they sent his way.

One of the robots wrapped its arms around Keith, making him unable to breathe.

Keith struggle; a useless attempt to get out of its grasp.

A robot came at him, sword ready to attack, when a blast went through it chest causing it to collapse.

Keith tore his eyes away from the robot and looked up. Lance, Pidge and Shiro had arrived.

Pidge slashed through the robot holding Keith, cutting it in half. Keith landed on his feet.

The other two robots had been shot down by Lance.

"What the hell?!" Lance yelled. "Why did you activate four?"

"I didn't."

"Then how the hell-"

Shiro interrupted Lance, "It might be the venom you were talking about."

"Venom?"

"Lance thinks some of the venom stayed behind in the training area and it's affecting the simulations." Hunk answered, coming in cannon ready.

"Oh." Keith said, still confused. "Is Coran fixing it?" 

"Yea. He said it could take a while tho-" Hunk cut off, shooting his cannon behind Keith and Pidge.

"MORE ROBOTS!" Lance shouted, raising his gun. Keith and Pidge turned around, ready to fight.

"Holy fu-" Pidge breathed, seeing the army of robots before her. 

Her voice was drowned out by the sound Lance's shout.

"They're shooting back- Wait holy shit. Is that a Galra sentry?"

Keith looked ahead of him.

"How did Galra get in here?!"

"Stand your ground!" Shiro ordered, putting his helmet on. 

"Coran! Galra is aboard the castle!"

"Black Paladin." someone breathed. "I was looking forward to meeting you.

* * *

 

 

 


	9. Blue can mean blood too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance lowered his gun. 
> 
> "S-shoot the-them-" Keith managed, trying to breathe.
> 
> "Pathetic." The Galra said, tightening his grip on Keith, forcing him to stop speaking.

Lance listened to the voice coming from Shiro's headset, continuing to shoot at the Galran sentries/training robots.

"Black Paladin," an unknown voice spoke, "I was looking forward to meeting you."

Lance stopped shooting, to stunned to pull the trigger. 

"Lance!" Hunk shouted over the noise. "I need your help, buddy!"

Lance shook himself out of the daze. "Right, right. Sorry"

 

"Have you-huff- heard the voice-huff- before?" Shiro asked, in between slicing robots in half.

Lance nodded, then realized Shiro wasn't looking at him. "Yea. He was on the-ON YOUR RIGHT, PIDGE!"

She turned around, bayard in front of her to slice anything in her way.

"I remember his voice. He talked to Haggar while I was there." He finished.

"ALLURA! CORAN!" He shouted into his helmet. "WHERE ARE THEY?"

" _Well, they could be on the bridge. I'm not entirely sure at this point. I mean, their bodies are definitely on the bridge, but their soul? It could be somewhere else._ " the man responded over the coms.

"Dammit." Shiro muttered.

Lance looked at Shiro. He had hacked and slashed his way through nearly half of the robots. Pidge had gone to help him, while Keith kept any from getting through the doors.

"Lance! Keith!" He shouted, turning his coms off. "Go help Coran and Allura!"

"On it!" Lance shouted, dragging Keith out of the door.

"What the hell?!" Keith shouted, trying to get back in.

"Did you not just hear Shiro?" He snapped back, running further down the hall. "He just said to help Coran and Allura!"

"No, I did not hear that." Keith answered, taking his arm back, running faster.

* * *

Lance slowed his pace as they reached the bridge.

"Slow down," he whispered to Keith.

"Why?" he whisper shouted.

"They don't know we're coming!" he whisper shouted back.

Keith grumbled in response, slowing down.

Lance peered into the bridge. Allura and Coran were sitting on their knees, cuffs on their arms. They both had muzzles on, to keep them from talking.

Coran had a cut across his forehead and his eyes were closed.

Allura was awake, blood trailing down her dress. Her face was set in a glare, filled with fury.

Lance ducked his head back into the hallway. "We should get the cuffs off of them first. I doubt we can take Haggar and that guy by ourselves." He whispered.

Keith nodded. "Get Allura and Coran. I'll keep them busy if they notice us."

"What? No! I just said-"

"I know what you said!" He growled. "I said if!"

"Oh." Lance said, heading into the bridge.

_**My Lance?** _

_Yea?_

**_You are alright?_ **

_Yes._

**_Good. I will slaughter any one who tries to harm you._ **

_Blue, if Keith and I get caught, I need you to keep Red from flying after him. And you need to stay here. We can't risk the Galra getting two lions._

**_But, My Lance-_ **

_Blue, promise me you'll stay here._

**_I will stay here._ **

_And you'll keep Red here?_

**_I will keep the Red Lion here._ **

_Good._

Lance crouched as he ran towards where Allura and Coran were. His back was towards Haggar and the Galra.

Keith was just about getting to where Lance was, a panicked look in his eyes.

Lance focused on getting the cuffs off. 

"C'mon...C'mon..." Lance whispered in a sort of mantra.

"Lance!" Keith shouted. "Duck!"

Lance did as said, forcing Allura to duck as well. 

Black lightning surged above their heads.

Lance aimed his gun at them, to see Keith in a battle with the Galr, clearly losing.

He had to make a choice. Save Keith, or kill Haggar and save Allura and Coran.

He took a millisecond too long to shoot.

The Galra had grabbed Keith by his throat, pushing him against one of the walls. Keith thrashed in his grip, only managing to kick the Galra's stomach. The Galra did not move.

"If you shoot, he  _will_ die." Haggar snarled. 

_Blue, keep Red down now._

**_But, My-_ **

_Now!_

Lance lowered his gun. 

"S-shoot the-them-" Keith managed, trying to breathe.

"Pathetic." The Galra said, tightening his grip on Keith, forcing him to stop speaking.

The Galra took him off of the wall and carried him by the throat to where Haggar stood.

Lance automatically raised his gun, keeping it aimed on the Galra.

"What did I-" Haggar snarled, interrupted by a  blaster aimed for her chest.

She teleported just in time to avoid the shot. Lance got up and started to run towards the Galra, shooting his gun.

Lance knew it was Hunk that shot the blast. He could hear Hunk, Pidge and Shiro rushing in. 

The Galra snarled and placed Keith in front of him, forcing Lance to stop shooting. He continued to charge, though. No harm in that.

Keith's struggling had slowed because of the oxygen he wasn't getting. 

As Lance reached the Galra, Haggar teleported back, right beside the Galra.

"Lotor, we must go." She said, teleporting away with Lotor holding Keith, who Lance had just managed to touch.

* * *

The first thing Lance noticed as he came to wherever Haggar wanted, was that Keith had gone limp in Lotor's grip.

Lance raised his blaster to Lotor, only to be shot by lightning.

Lance refused to scream. He waited for the pain to stop, but it didn't.

"Stop." Lotor snarled, dropping the limp Keith.

The pain stopped, as commanded.

"But, my Lord-"

"We need them alive if we are to find the castle once more." He snapped.

Once more..? Had they placed a tracker on Lance? 

Once Lance's vision cleared, he looked at the Galra Haggar called Lotor.

He had white hair, just like Allura's, with boomerangs under the corner of his eyes. He had purple skin, and yellow eyes that were staring at Lance.

He could feel his muscles twitching from the lightning, and could hear the short breaths he took.

Lance looked towards Keith. He lay limp on the ground, nothing moving.

Nothing was moving.

Lotor seemed to notice Lance's fear that Keith was dead.

"Please. If he were dead, you would be dead as well, Blue Paladin."

Lance didn't sigh in relief. They were still on a Galra ship, both of them half dead.

"Sc..Screw o-off." He spat back.

"Oooh, feisty." He replied.

At that moment, Keith woke up. 

He sat up, trying to reach for his bayard, but it was back on the Castle.

Lance's had been tossed aside, and he still couldn't get his muscles to do what he wanted them to do.

Lotor reached down for Keith, and he kicked out.

"Fine." He looked towards Haggar.

Haggar nodded and grabbed Keith's arms.

Keith struggled in the grip, but couldn't get out. She cuffed his hands and let go.

Blood trailed down his arms from where her claws had broke skin.

"Where's Lance?" Keith shouted.

His back was towards him, and Lance didn't have the energy to speak.

Lotor gestured with his hand for Keith to turn around.

Keith turned his head slightly, enough so he could see what was beside him, and so he could still see Lotor.

* * *

 

 

Keith's eyes widened in fear, then were full of worry.

Lance was on his back, one arm draped over his stomach, the other on the ground, both twitching. His whole body was twitching, and a small pool of blood was forming under his head. His eyes were closed and Lance was pale. Freakishly pale.

Keith tried to turn his body towards Lance, but Lotor grabbed his shoulders, pulling him further to the ground.

Once again, he struggled, getting no where.

"What did you do to him?" he snapped.

"You know, just the normal 'stab until he's dead' gimmick."

Keith struggled even more. Lance wasn't dead. He was not dead.

Lotor let go, allowing Keith to run to his friend's side.

Keith got to his feet, stumbling as he ran to Lance's side.

He slid to his knees landing in front of Lance.

"Lance?" he whispered.

"Speak up. We want to hear your petty squabbles." Lotor chimed in.

"SHUT IT!" Keith screamed.

"I give you the freedom to run to your friend, and you scream at me?" Lotor snarled. "Haggar, bring them to the cells."

"Yes, my lord."

Haggar snapped at some guards and they grabbed Keith.

Two other guards grabbed Lance's arms and dragged him towards the cell. 

"Let go of him!" Keith shouted, struggling in the grip.

The guard holding him slammed the hilt of his sword on Keith's head.

His vision went black.

* * *

The first thing Lance was aware of was the cold floor under him. Which lead to a question.

Why was he on the floor?

The next thing he realized was the  chain around his ankle. 

As soon as his sense of hearing returned, he heard his name.

"...ce?" someone asked, fear creeping in their voice. "Lance, come on! Open your eyes! Insult me! Tell a joke! Do something!"

He didn't have the energy to speak, move, or open his eyes.

On the bright side, the muscle spasms stopped.

When the man calling his name, probably Keith, shook his shoulders, Lance groaned.

Keith let go, and sighed in relief. "Oh thank god. You're alive."

Lance's head cleared, memories returning. He tried to gather enough energy to antagonize Keith.

"'live's an und...under-understatement."

"Lance!"

Lance waved his finger up and down, losing all of the energy he gathered.

"Lance, can you open your eyes?"

He shook his head. "energy..." he mumbled.

"Right, right." Keith said. 

Lance heard Keith get up and move around.

Lance tried to open an eye to see what Keith was doing, but his attempt failed.

Keith finally returned to his side, opening a box.

"W..what..?"

"They left us with a first aid box or something. There's bandaids and stuff in it."

"w..wh...wh-why?"

"Not sure."

Keith took something out and lifted his head.

"wh-"

"Stop talking!" Keith snapped. "Only talk when I tell you too! It clearly hurts you to talk."

_No shit, Sherlock._

"You may have thought you didn't say that, but you did." Keith snorted, wrapping something around his head.

Mustering the energy he had, Lance opened his eyes.

He immediately shut them, hissing in pain.

"lig...lights-"

"Oh, right." Keith gently put his head down, and sat over Lance's stomach, blocking the already dull lights from Lance's vision. "Better?"

Lance opened his eyes half way this time. "Yea.."

"Now stop talking unless I tell you to!"

Lance snorted. He immediately regretted that.

"Idiot," Keith muttered.

"Yo-you look like shit.."

Keith stopped wrapping his head and placed it on the ground.

"I'll be fine."

Lance tried to raise his hand to press on his cut, but he did not have the energy. Keeping his eyes open and talking stole the energy.

"N-no..."

"Yes." Keith started to get up. "Close your eyes again, if it hurts."

Lance kept his eyes open and tried to sit up.

Mission failed.

He would have slammed his head back on the ground, but Keith caught him right before he did.

Keith helped him to sit up, with his back on the wall.

Lance opened his eyes again.

"Who kne..knew you cou-could be so g-gentle?"

"Shut up." Keith muttered.

"ha..ha.."

"Would you stop talking? Every time you do you go really pale."

"You go re-" Lance started coughing.

"See?"

Lance glared at Keith. "It was j-just lig-" he started to cough again.

"That was shot at your chest! It was at her full capacity, too, you idiot!" Keith snapped.

Keith grabbed some gauze thing from the box and wrapped it around his arm, where she cut him.

"Neck..." was all Lance could say.

"What?"

"Blood... neck..."

Keith reached to the back of his neck. "Dammit."

Keith sighed, not attempting to cover it. "You told Blue to stay at the castle, right?"

Lance nodded. "and to k-keep yours down if-" he choked down a cough. "if he tried to come after y-you."

"I did the same."

"g-great min-minds think alike..."

"There's only one great mind here." Keith retorted.

"it's me, you-you're rig-" he cut himself off by a painful cough. Blood splattered to the floor.

Lance closed his eyes, wheezing.

"Lance!"

He grunted in response.

"You'll be fine, okay? You'll be fine." Keith told him.

The door to the cell opened.

"Ah! My two favourite paladins are awake!"

Lotor walked in, a belt filled with sharp weapons around his waist.

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this series, lotor is part altean, and part galra. i don't know what he's actually like, but he seems like he'd be cocky.


	10. The Two Favourites.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now all he had to do was stay alive long enough to receive help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sometimes when i'm writing i forget minor details (like the leg chain and muzzle) so i'll just somehow add it back in

All Lance could hear was pained screams. Pained screams from the one person he didn't want to hear it from.

"Stop!" He shouted, his energy coming back. He tried to move his hands, but they were still stuck in place.

"Stop what? Oh, you mean the fun I'm having? No, I'm okay. You should really try it!" Lotor answered, turning his focus back to the limp body.

More blood was spilled as Lotor laughed maniacally.

* * *

_**Earlier that day...** _

"My two favourite paladins!" Lotor shouted, walking into the cell.

Keith glared at their captor, blocking Lance with his body.

He still didn't have enough energy to move.

"What do you want?" Keith snarled, eyeing the sharp objects around his waist.

"Coordinates!" He said, completely enthusiastic. "Where are the lions?" He asked, grinning.

Keith felt Lance move, turning his attention to Lance.

"I said stop moving!" Keith snapped.

"You said talking." Lance replied, getting some energy back.

Keith huffed about to say something else, when he was pulled backwards.

"I do love that you two are starting a conversation, but I really must get to my point." Lotor said, dragging Keith to a leg chain.

Keith was kicking and punching, trying to get out of the his grasp, but it didn't work.

Lotor grabbed his ankle and wrapped the cuff around it, connecting it to the wall.

Lotor turned away from Keith and headed in Lance's direction.

"Get away from him!" Keith shouted, trying to get out of the cuff.

Lotor ignored him and placed a cuff on Lance's wrist.

"Wha-?" Lance was cut off by the sudden forced against his chin. 

"Listen to your friend," he snarled, grabbing Lance's chin harder. "Stop talking."

"LET GO OF HIM!"

Lotor placed a cuff on Lance's other wrist and walked back towards Keith, pulling out one of the tools.

Keith was still trying to get out of the cuff when Lotor arrived.

"Would you like some help, Red Paladin?"

Keith glared at him.

"Would you rather be called by your name?" Lotor asked, undoing the cuff.

"What are you-"

Lotor grabbed his throat. "Maybe you should listen to your own instructions."

Keith tried to breathe, resulting in a choked down cough.

"Would you like to keep your tounge?"

Keith's eyes widened.

"That's what I thought," Lotor snapped, releasing his throat.

"Let's see..." Lotor tapped his chin going through some weapons on his belt. 

He finally grabbed two, showing them to Lance. "Which one do you think would be more painful?"

Lance didn't answer. He tried to take the cuffs off of his wrists.

Lotor looked at them once more, then pulled another from his belt, putting the other two down.

The weapon he chose was the size of a knife, with ragged edges and electricity sparking at the top.

Lotor walked towards Keith's body, pushing him back to the ground.

Lance had almost all of his energy returned. He could stop this. As he started to get up, Lotor sat over Keith, holding both of his wrists in one hand.

He brought the knife down to Keith's chest.

* * *

Pidge was in her lion's hangar, typing frantically on a computer.

She had been up for about a day now, trying to find out where Keith and Lance had gone. The trackers in their helmets had been turned off as soon as she got a lock on them.

**_Do not punish yourself for their disappearance, My Pilot._ **

_Maybe it would help if I were in their hangars..._

Pidge grabbed her computer and walked towards Red's hangar.

Entering the room, she found Blue lying on top of a struggling Red.

"What the hell?" she asked, out loud.

Blue looked at her for a second, giving Red the chance he needed. 

She got out of the Blue's grip before Blue pounced again, trapping Red under her.

"Shiro?!" she yelled, loud enough to reach the training deck.

* * *

Lotor saw Lance coming out of the corner of his eye, so he put the knife down.

He clicked a few buttons, and the Blue Paladin's arms got stuck to the floor under him.

"What the-"

"They will keep you there until I want you in a different position."

Lance huffed, and started to struggle.

Lotor grabbed his knife once more, Keith's hands still in his grip.

Keith's body was trying to get out from under him, but his plan was utterly failing.

Lance watched as Lotor brought the knife down to Keith's chest.

Keith tried to hold his scream down, but he couldn't.

The only thing he could understand at the moment, was pain. Not that Lance was frantically calling his name, trying to get free, not Lotor's laughing, just pain.

_It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..._

**_MY_ ** _**PILOT!**_

"Stop! Keith!" Lance shouted, trying to remove his arms from their position.

Lotor continued to laugh, pulling the knife out of his chest.

"No!" Lance screamed, seeing the blood spurt out of Keith's chest. 

Lance looked to Lotor's knife, and noticed there was no more electricity on it.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!?"

Lotor ignored him, and pulled out another painful tool. Lance watched as Keith's twitching body received another stab to the chest.

Another scream.

Lance started to pull his arms free once more, hearing a painful snap.

His head shot up to see Keith's arm at an un-natural angle. 

All of the noises Lance was hearing had been drowned out by Keith's scream.

A thought came to Lance's head. If Red could get to Keith, the others could find them. They could save Keith.

Lance tried to ignore Keith's screams as more weapons came into his body, but it was nearly impossible.

_Blue._

_**My Lance! Red is trying very hard to get out, but I still have him here!** _

_Screw what I said earlier, Blue._  

**_What?_ **

_Let Red go. They can find us if he comes for Keith._

**_But, My Lance-_ **

_Let her go._

**_As you say, My Lance._ **

Now all Keith had to do was stay alive long enough to receive help.

* * *

Shiro came running into Red's bay when he heard his name. "Ye-"

Shiro looked up, and stopped talking. He knew what Pidge wanted him for.

"I-i just found them like this-" she gestured to Blue on top of Red,"and when Blue noticed me, Red got free and Blue jumped back on Red and-and-"

"Pidge," Shiro said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She looked like she was about to cry. "They'll be fine."

A roar filled the castle.

"What th-" Pidge started, looking back to the lions.

Blue had gotten off of Red, and Red had left the hangar.

"Shiro!" Pidge nearly screamed. "We have to follow her! She'll lead us to Lance and Keith!"

She turned around and ran to her lion's hangar, Shiro right behind her.

He had just come from training, so he had his helmet with him.

"Hunk! Get to your lion! We're going to follow Red!"

* * *

 

All Lance could hear was pained screams.

Pained screams from the one person he didn't want to hear it from.

"Stop!" He shouted, his energy coming back. He tried to move his hands, but they were still stuck in place.

"Stop what? Oh, you mean the fun I'm having? No, I'm okay. You should really try it!" Lotor answered, turning his focus back to the body.

More blood was spilled as Lotor laughed maniacally.

Lance screamed at Lotor. "STOP! HURT ME! STOP HURTNING HIM!"

"Your desperate cries amuse me, Paladin."

Lance tried to pull his arms free again, when he felt a sharp pain go through his arm.

His wrist was broken.

Lance looked back at Keith's bloody body.

He had at least ten stab marks on Keith's chest, along with one long, deep, cut going from the base of his throat to the end of his stomach.

His arm was at an un-natural angle, and his other arm was full of cuts. 

A hilt was sticking out of his thigh, and his other leg was soaked with red.

His whole body was twitching from the electricity.

"Now what, Paladin? Shall I cut off his tounge, like promised?"

Lance's eyes widened in fear, as he struggled harder. Pain soared up his arm, forcing him to stop. 

Keith's eyes were half open now. 

Lotor grabbed a sword from his belt.

"NO!" Lance shouted.

_**My Lance, she is nearly there.** _

_NEARLY ISN'T CLOSE ENOUGH!_

Lance watched in horror as Lotor tried to force his mouth open.

"No," he croaked, "please."

Lotor laughed once more, finally managing to get his mouth open. 

Lotor went to grab his tounge when alarms blared.

"What?" he snarled, getting up from his position.

Hope lit up like a firework in Lance's chest. Red had come. The team had come.

Lotor stormed out of the cell, locking the door behind him.

As soon as Lotor left the cell, Lance's hands were freed from their position. 

He shot to his feet, rushing to Keith's side.

Sliding to his knees, he tried to make a mental list of injuries.

_Broken arm, blood loss, lots of cuts, oh my god-_

That asshole was dead.

"Keith?" Lance asked, seeing that his eyes had closed. "Keith!"

His eyes didn't open.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry." Lance said, slapping Keith's face.

His eyes snapped open. "Did you just-" he asked, voice incredibly hoarse.

Lance nodded. "You've gotta stay awake, man."

Keith's body started to twitch.

" _It hurts,_ " Keith cried.

"I know, I know. You've just got to-" Lance had to force down a sob when keith cried out in pain. "stay awake."

Lance got up and looked out through the door of the cell.

* * *

Shiro was a force to be reckoned with.

He was a blur of purple and black, slashing through anything that got in his way. 

"Shiro!" Lance shouted.

Shiro stopped for a moment, and looked down the hall. He could see a tanned hand waving out of a door.

He sliced down the last sentry in his path, running towards the waving hand.

"Move away from the door!" He yelled, waiting for him to move.

As soon as Lance was out of his way, he kicked the door down.

* * *

Keith felt pain flow through his body. It was all he could feel. He could hardly hear Lance calling his name, telling him to wake up.

He felt a hand go across his face, hard.

He opened his eyes, seeing Lance's tear stained face over him.

"Did you just-" he managed to get out, seeing Lance nod.

"You've got to stay awake, man."

His body started to twitch. Once again, the only thing he felt was pain. He could feel the pain travelling across his body.

_It hurts,_

_**My Pilot! You must stay awake! Your fellow Paladins have arrived, and when you leave I will burn this ship down!** _

"I know, I know. You've just got to-" Keith cried out in pain, seeing a worried face above him. Wait. Who was above him? "stay awake."

The man above him for up, and ran towards the door, shouting for Shiro, waving his hand frantically out of the space in the door.

The man backed up, and the door flew across the room.

Shiro ran in, taking the man's wrist, lightly. "What happened, Lance?"

Oh right. It was Lance.

He pulled his wrist back and moved away from Shiro's vision. 

Shiro's rested on Keith and his eyes widened in fear and worry.

He ran towards Keith, trying to pick Keith up.

Keith recoiled in fear from Shiro.

Shiro dropped his hands to his side.

"What is it?"

Lance noticed first. "Your arm- it's glowing-"

Shiro looked down. "Stupid thing."

He punched it until it stopped glowing.

Keith had curled into a ball when Shiro went to pick him up. 

Once again, Keith recoiled from Shiro. 

"What the fu-" Shiro started, being cut off by Lance.

"A lot.." he breathed out, the memory surfacing.

"Lance, do you think you could carry him? He's- he's scared of my arm."

Lance nodded and went to pick him up.

Keith flinched as he was picked up, but didn't move away.

"Pidge and Hunk are guarding the lions." Shiro said, taking the lead down the hallway.

Lance nodded.

Keith cried out in pain when Lance walked too fast, accidentally moving him. 

Blood was starting to soak through to Lance's shirt. "We have to hurry-"

Keith's vision went black.

* * *

"Come on, Keith!" Lance shouted, continuing to walk behind Shiro. "Wake up!" 

His wrist was killing him, but Keith was more important than some broken wrist.

Shiro looked back to see that Keith had passed out. " _Dammit_."

"How much further?"

"A few more seconds-" Shiro stopped at a door pushing Lance towards the wall.

A pair of sentries ran by the door they were about to enter, and were quickly shot down.

Shiro ran into the room, pushing Lance in front of him. "Get in Pidge's Lion! Red will follow."

Lance ran towards the lion, trying to ignore the cries Keith made.

He woke up, which was a good thing, but he was in more pain. 

"I'm sorry.." he breathed.

"What?" Lance blinked. Why was Keith apologizing?

"Red," he tried to point towards the Red Lion burning anything that got close to them. His hand fell right back in Lance's arms. "he didn't st-" 

Keith started to cough up blood.

"PIDGE!" He shouted, running faster. "OPEN YOUR LION!"

Pidge turned to get inside of her lion, readying to pilot it.

She ran up the ramp, starting up her lion. Lance was about to step inside, when Haggar blocked his path.

He stumbled backwards, nearly dropping Keith.

She shot black lightning at Keith.

* * *

Red roared. She roared louder than anything Shiro had ever heard.

Shiro turned to see Hunk shoot Haggar. She dissapeared right before Hunk's blast got to her.

Lance had fallen down the ramp, Keith on top of him.

"NO!" Shiro shouted, running towards them.

Red got to them first. She scooped them up in her mouth, and flew off towards the castle.

"We've gotta go!" Hunk shouted, getting into his lion.

Shiro got into Pidge's lion, the ramp closing behind him.

He hadn't brought Black with. It was too risky to bring him to Zarkon's main ship.

The three remaining lions zoomed out of the ship, wormholing to the castle.

* * *

Lance saw the black lightning come at them- No. Not them. Keith. She shot it at Keith.

Lotor wanted him dead.

Lance bent his body over Keith's unconscious one, just as the lightning hit him.

Lance managed to stay awake long enough to keep Keith's body from receiving any more damage.

Keith still got hurt, but Lance took most of the fall. 

He landed on the edge of the ramp, Keith on top of him.

"NO!" Shiro shouted, running towards them.

Lance tried to raise his hand to give them a thumbs up, meaning Keith was ok, but when he tried, his vision went black.

* * *

Keith woke up inside of a dimly lit cockpit. 

He was on top of Lance's unconscious body.

Keith tried to get up, but only accomplished nearly passing out.

_**MY PILOT!** _

_Red..?_

_**How badly have they hurt you?** _

_I-i don't know._

_**THEY WILL ALL BURN AT THE PAWS OF THE RED LION.** _

_no._

_**YES**._

_No, Red._

_**AND WHY NOT?** _

_You'd burn down the entire galaxy._

_**I WOULD NOT.** _

_You can't control yourself when you're pissed._

_**I CAN.** _

_Really? Then why did you come after me?_

**_Blue released me._ **

_You see my- why did Blue release you?_

_**Her Paladin said it was okay.** _

_Why?_

_**He doesn't want you dead**._

Keith opened his eyes- Wait. When had he closed them?

Lance was starting to stand up, gently pushing Keith off of him.

He immediately stopped. "You're awake! Are you okay?"

"Y-" Red bumped a little bit, causing Keith to cry out. "no."

"Do you know if there's any supplies in hear to stop the bleeding?" Lance asked, getting up to search through stuff. "The gauze on your arm is soaked with blood."

Keith looked at Lance's shirt. "You-you're bleeding."

Lance looked down. "You idiot. That's your blood."

"I-I'm bleeding?"

Lance slapped his forehead. "YES, YOU IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK HAPPENED IN THAT CELL?"

"You rhymed." Keith pointed out, tasting copper in his mouth. "m-maybe I am ble-bleeding."

"NO SHI-" 

"ahbupbupbup. No cussing in the Red Lion." Keith joked, then started to cough up blood.

Lance started to look again, this time a lot faster.

The Red Lion stopped and opened it's mouth. "oh good." 

Lance started to pick up Keith, receiving many protests from the red faced Keith.

"What- no! I can walk just-" he tried to stop the coughing, failing miserably.

"Sure you can, Mullet."

"You're hurt too!"

"I can still run!"

Keith sighed in defeat, as Lance ran to the med-bay carrying him bridal-style.

They ran into Allura and Coran on the way. He didn't slow his running.

"Two pods are ready-" Coran said, running ahead of them.

"Oh my-" Allura gasped, seeing Keith. "What-"

"A LOT!" Lance shouted, knowing her question. 

It was getting harder for Keith to keep his eyes open every step Lance took.

"Come on! You've gotta stay awake man!"

He forced his eyes to open. 

The light hurt his eyes, but Lance kept telling him to open his eyes, so he kept them open.

" _Lean on me, when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on."_

Lance tried singing to keep him awake, but nothing was working.

* * *

Allura and Coran ran ahead to the med bay, leaving Lance to run with Keith at a slower pace.

He tried singing Lean on Me to keep Keith awake, but it wasn't working.

Nothing was working.

He was losing Keith.

He was losing the one he loves.

"KEITH! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"

It was clear Keith was trying, but, it wasn't enough.

"Please! I can't lose you Keith!" Lance said, scared that he would die. "I love you, Keith!"

Keith's eyes opened half way when Lance said that.

"You-you l-love me?"

"YES!" 

"I-i l-" Keith coughed up blood, then his eyes had shut.

"DAMN IT!"

Lance had reached the med bay.

"Coran!" He yelled. "Pod!"

The pod was already open, and he took Keith from Lance, placing Keith in it.

The door slid shut, and Keith's heart rate was monitored.

"Don't you have to check first to make sure it's okay?"

"We did not have time, Lance." Allura told him. "He was- he is nearly dead. We cannot risk it."

"Oh." Lance said.

"Come now, you need a pod as well." Coran said, starting to push him to the pod.

Lance shrugged him off. "I'm fine. Where are the others?"

"Almost here."

"So they're fine?"

"Yes, for the most part. Just some bruises." Allura assured him.

"Good." Lance finally let exhaustion overtake him, closing his eyes.

His knees buckled and he fell to the floor, caught by Coran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a spoiler, by the way. if you don't want to read it, then just don't come down here. 
> 
>  
> 
> SPOILER;
> 
>  
> 
> For those of you who don't want Klance rushed, don't worry. It will not be rushed. Keith will forget about the conversation he had with Lance before he was put into a pod.  
> Klance will be eased into, nice and slow. 
> 
>  
> 
> SPOILER;


	11. Never let me go, Lance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why didn't you help us?!" He snapped.
> 
> Shiro froze. What was wrong with Keith? 
> 
> "All you did was stand there, Takashi! You just stood there and laughed while Lance and I were dying!"

Lance stumbled out of the pod, wide awake. He understood how Lotor and Haggar got into the ship.

He fell into Hunk's welcoming arms. He looked around the room. He saw Allura, Shiro, Pidge and Coran.

"Is Keith-"

"We're not sure when he'll be out of there, my friend. Ah, but we do know he will make a full recovery!" Coran assured him, too enthusiastically.

"Good," Lance breathed. He remembered the sight of the nearly dead Keith as he told him:

_I love you._

He was saying something back, but had been cut short by a cough filled with blood.

_What was he going to say?_

Lance turned his head. He saw Keith floating in the pod with nothing but the black suit they wear under their armour. Lots of holes and slashes were in it, revealing some still bloody cuts.

"How long was I in there for?" Lance asked.

"About a-" Coran started.

"A day." Pidge supplied.

"Tell me, #5! What is this 'day' you talk about?"

"Well, a day is when-"

"Nope!" Lance interrupted, cutting Pidge off. "More important issues!" 

Everyone looked at him. 

"What is it?" Shiro asked.

"Well, Lotor was said something when he was talking to us that implied he put a tracker on us, which got me thinking. I never noticed a tracker on me when I was first caught, so what if there's a tracker in me..?"

"Sounds plausible!" Coran said, once more, way too enthusiastically.

"What do you mean 'in you'?" Hunk asked.

"On that knife Haggar put in me- maybe there was a tracker on the blade?"

"Sounds-"

"Yes, that could be possible, Lance." Allura interrupted. "Come with Coran and I. We'll do a, er, what did you call it again, Pidge?"

Pidge looked up from her tablet. "Call what?"

"You know, the thing that looks at your insides without cutting you open like how we did on Altea!"

"An x-ray?"

"Yes! An x-ray. We will perform the x-ray on you." Allura beckoned Pidge and Coran along.

Hunk let go of Lance to let him leave.

Before he left the room, Lance took another look at Keith.

He still looked like crap. How long would it take for him to be healed?

* * *

As soon as Lance left with the others, Shiro found himself staring at the pod.

Hunk put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't torture yourself, dude." 

"I know- It's just, I could have stopped it. I could have done something-"

"Don't blame yourself, Shiro. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but the people who took them."

Shiro sighed. "I know."

He looked back up at Keith. He would find out who did this, and what happened.

Then that sick bastard who did it would die.

Shiro started to turn around to follow the rest, Hunk already gone, when he heard the hiss of a pod.

How was that possible? Just a second ago blood was on his chest.

Shiro turned around to see Keith hardly able to stand.

"Buddy! Hey! It's okay!" Shiro reassured him, trying to help him stand.

Keith flinched away from Shiro, a frightened look in his eyes.

"Why didn't you help us?" He asked, voice cracking near the end.

"What? I did!" Shiro told him, stepping forward to help him.

"Why didn't you help us?!" He snapped.

Shiro froze. What was wrong with Keith? 

"All you did was stand there, Takashi! You just stood there and laughed while Lance and I were dying!"

As soon as he said Lance, Keith started looking around frantically. "Where's Lance?!"

Finally regaining his voice, Shiro answered him. "He's getting an x-ray from Allura- Keith you need to get into a pod, you look as if you're about to collapse. It didn't fully heal you, Keith-" He stepped closer. 

"Stay away from me!" He shouted. "You wanted us to die!"

"Keith, I didn't-"

"You just stood there!"

What was Keith talking about? When he got there, their captor was gone, and Lance was waving him in.

"Keith, what happened?" He tried once more to get closer.

"I said stay away!" Keith yelled, backing up.

"Keith, please, you have to listen to me-"

"You just stood there, Takashi!" He repeated.

"Keith-" Shiro tried once more to get closer.

"NO!" Keith snapped. "STAY AWAY!"

Keith was trying to keep from screaming. Every time he talked or shouted pain flew through his body. 

"Where's Lance?!" He tried again.

"I told you-"

"And I don't believe you!"

"I-"

Lance rushed in at that moment. "What's going on?"

Keith turned at the sound of Lance's voice. "Lance!"

Lance turned to see Keith, who was bleeding and barely able to stand.

"Keith?" Lance looked at Keith's chest. "Keith, why are you out of the pod?"

"I don't know! I woke up and-and Shiro was standing there and - Lance what are you doing?"

"Putting you back in the pod."

"Why? I'm fine!" Keith shouted, trying to get out of his grip. 

Keith accomplished his goals and fell to the floor, hissing in pain.

"Keith!" Shiro crouched beside him.

"Get away from me!" He yelled, kicking out at Shiro, causing more pain to surge through his body.

"Coran!" Shiro shouted, getting up. "Keep him calm!"

Shiro ran out of the room to go and find Coran.

Keith finally calmed down.

"Lance-"

"Yea?" He sat down beside Keith.

"Are you okay?"

"Me? You're asking if I'm okay? Keith, you were nearly killed!"

"So were you!"

"It was just lightning! You were bleeding out!"

Keith hissed in pain.

"Look, man. We have to get you into a pod, right now. I don't know why it ejected you, but-"

"Why didn't Shiro help us?" Keith asked, his eyes glassy.

"What?" He took Lance by surprise. All Shiro did was help them.

"He just stood there and-and watched me be stabbed. He laughed and-" Keith broke off.

"Keith, I don't know what Lotor did to you, but all Shiro did was help."

"But-"

"What do you remember?"

"...I remember being chained to a wall, then Lotor was on top of me, stabbing everywhere-" He managed to choke out. 

"Then?"

"You were on the floor... and then Shiro just appeared beside me laughing and-and asking for a turn."

"Oh , man, no. That's not what happened. I think- I think a lotor might've put something on your head when I wasn't looking. I'm not sure, but Shiro didn't come until the door flew open."

"He didn't?"

Lance nodded.

Keith relaxed in his position.

"How about that pod?"

Keith nodded, letting himself be lifted up.

"No! Don't let him go in the pod!"

Lance stopped. Why was Coran telling him not to? "What- Why?"

"If it ejected #4 out then there must be something seriously wrong!" Coran yelled, coming beside Lance and Keith.

"Where's Shiro?" Keith managed to say.

"He didn't want you to be frightened so he stayed with the others."

"What could be so wrong with Keith that he had to be spat out? His mullet?"

Keith huffed at his comment.

"Well, #3, typically it means that something in the blood has been altered, or poison has entered the system. On very rare occasions, it's because the patient has brain activity too high for him to be in there. It's dangerous to wake up in a pod, so it spits you out!"

"Do we need to examine Keith?" Lance asked.

Coran nodded. "Follow me #3!"

Lance did as asked, carrying Keith bridal-style.

"I can walk." Keith huffed in his arms.

"When I got in there, you could hardly stand."

"But-"

"Up bup bup bup! No nuts, no buts, no coconuts!"

"What?"

"You haven't heard that rhyme before?"

"No."

" _Dios mío._ " Lance said under his breath. "The point is; I'm not putting you down."

"Fine," Keith huffed.

"What? No 'Never let me go, Lance!'?"

"Are you referencing Titantic?"

"Ye-" Lance looked down at Keith when he started to cough. Blood was spilling from his mouth. "Whatever you need to do, Coran, do it fast!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry. i can't do shiro's character very well. i'm about to make them recover after this chapter, so if you want any more hurt happen lemme know in the comments.


	12. 7 Quintants.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mix of red and blue light emerged from the device as electricity went into Keith's body.
> 
> Coran finally noticed Lance's hand on Keith's. His eyes widened. "No! Lance! Let go of him!"
> 
> Lance was too late. The electricity had already surged through him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus 1280something people have read this. thanks then. ha. ha. yea okay here you go.

Hunk was taking a tray full of... somethings out of the oven when Pidge walked in.

She sat at the counter, clearly waiting for Hunk to finish.

"Hunk?" Pidge asked, watching him set down a tray.

"Yea?" He took off the oven mitts, placing them on the rim of the tray.

Pidge eyed the thingy ma bobs supiciously.

"Cookies. I tried to make cookies."

"Ah. Anyways, I had a question."

"Shoot. Well, I mean, don't shoot because it's just a question and that's a phrase I probably shouldn't use anymo-"

"Has Lance been acting strange to you?"

"How?"

"Like, around Keith. He used to be so cocky and prideful around him, but now he's letting him win arguments and stuff. Before they were in the pods, he was acting really protective over him too-"

"Yea, I've noticed. He was watching him train the other day, too."

"Before the-"

"Yea, before that Galra dude came."

Pidge tapped her chin in thought. "Hunk, do you think they like eachother?"

Hunk nodded.

"I have a proposition for you. It's for the other people as well, I guess, but I can't find them right now and-"

"What is it?"

"Would you be willing to place a bet on it?"

"On what?"

Pidge sighed in annoyance. "On how long it takes for them to get together!"

Shiro walked in. "For who to get together?"

Pidge watched as their leader approached. "Oh, uh, eh-"

"Keith and Lance?" He asked, sitting down beside Pidge.

"Yea. You willing to make a bet?"

Shiro and Hunk nodded.

"What would the losers have to do?" Hunk asked.

Pidge thought for a moment. "Do the other persons choose for two weeks?"

"You're on." Shiro agreed.

"Oh, and you have to let it happen naturally." Hunk added.

"What?!" Pidge shouted. "No way!"

"It's only fair." Hunk winked at her, resting his elbows on the counter. 

"Fine." Pidge huffed. "I say 8 days."

"5." Shiro said, receiving two confused looks. "What?"

"5 days?" Hunk asked. "Are you sure?"

Shiro thought about how Lance and Keith acted around eachother. He nodded.

"You are so going to lose." Pidge said, rather enthusiastically.

"What about you, Hunk?" Shiro asked, resting his chin in his flesh hand.

"Hmm... Maybe two weeks?"

"Sounds good." Shiro told him.

Pidge snickered. "You guys are so off."

* * *

"You've seriously never heard that rhyme before?" Lance asked, helping him off of the table.

Keith nodded. "No one's ever said it 'round me before."

"Well! It seems we have some good news and more good news!" Coran chimed in.

"Really?" Lance asked. "What is it?"

Keith looked at Coran hopefully. "Am I okay to go back in the pod?"

"Unfortunately, no. But! You will get too see our amazing faces!"

Keith sighed. His ribs ached. At least most of the cuts on his chest had healed.

"Then why didn't you say there was bad news?" Lance shouted.

Keith winced at the volume. His head was pounding. 

Lance lowered his voice. "Sorry, man."

Keith gave him a shaky thumbs up.

"Because he gets to see our faces for the time being!"

"Why can't he go in the pod? Electricity or something?"

"Oh, no. We are fortunate on this one!" 

Lance waited for Coran to continue talking. He just continued to beam.

"And?" Lance asked, impatiently.

"Oh. Right. The only reason he can't go back in is because his brain activity is too high!"

"How does my brain activity affect it?" Keith asked.

"If you wake up during the process of healing, it could result in disastrous effects."

"Wh-"

"Will he be able to go in it eventually?" Lance asked, cutting Keith off.

Lance didn't want Keith to stay in pain.

"Once his brain activity settles!" Coran answered. "Of course, there are other ways to heal him, it will just take longer than the pod would!"

"Where would he stay then?"

Apparently, Keith wasn't allowed to talk for himself.

"Oh, just in the infirmary!"

"Where's that?" Keith asked. "Is it where the pods are?"

"No! If you follow me, I can set you up in there!"

Keith nodded, trying to stand and follow Coran.

He did not succeed.

Keith stumbled over his own feet and fell face first.

Or, he would have, if Lance hadn't grabbed his arms before he could.

"I told you!" 

Keith winced again. "Do you ever talk quietly?"

"No." Lance told him, lifting him up.

"No! No carrying!" Keith shouted, heat rising to his face.

"I thought you just said-"

"And it hurt to yell! Put me down."

With an annoyed grunt, Lance placed him on his feet. "You still can't walk."

"I'll manage."

"Fine. Try." Lance gestured his hand to the door.

Coran was waiting outside of it.

Keith steadied himself and walked. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at Lance's annoyed face.

 _I win_.

Karma got to Keith. He fell face first this time.

"Tsk tsk. What would you do without your knight in shining armour?"

"You mean Shiro? Get booted from the Garrison." Keith answered, rubbing his forehead. 

Lance was once again picking him up. "Gasp! My feelings!"

Keith snorted, trying to get out of Lance's grip.

"Nope. I'm carrying you."

Keith felt the heat rise to his face again. "Fine," He huffed.

"Lead the way, Coran." Lance gestured with his chin, carrying a red and annoyed Keith.

* * *

Lance put Keith onto the prepared bed.

"Is the little baby cold?" Lance pestered him.

"If I had the energy, you would have a broken nose."

Lance raised his hands in a mock surrender. 

"Hold this please, #3!" Coran announced, placing a machine into Lance's hands.

"What would this do?" he asked.

Coran walked over to the side of the bed Keith was on. He pressed a few buttons, revealing a screen that monitored a heart beat.

"It should repair Keith's body. It will take a little while, though."

"How lon-"

"Should?!" Lance asked, interrupting Keith.

"Let me talk!" Keith snapped.

Once more he was utterly ignored. He crossed his arms over his chest, then immediately removed them. "Ow."

"When I said should, I meant it won't heal ribs. They will have to heal in their own." Coran said, pointing towards Keith's ribs.

"Who said I have broken ribs?"

"You were literally coughing blood." Lance told him.

"How long will it take?" Keith asked, the attention going to him for a minute.

"It should take at least 7 Quintants!" Coran announced. "Typically it takes at least 23 Quintants, but you have less injuries than they did."

"That's good, but, a week? Really?" Lance asked.

"What is this week you speak of?"

"It's 7 Quintants, which for us is 7 days. It's also known as a week." Keith supplied.

"You are rather lucky!" Coran started up again. "Most of your major injuries have been healed by the pod!"

Lance looked at him like he was crazy. Major injuries? Keith still had 4 broken ribs, a concussion, a partially broken arm, cuts down his chest, and a stab wound in his thigh. "Aren't these ones pretty major too?"

"Not as bad as internal bleeding!"

"I was bleeding internally?"

"No!" Lance assured him. If Keith found out, he might've gone into shock. "You were just-"

"May I have that device, Lance?" Coran asked, pointing to the instrument of tech in his hands.

Lance handed it to him.

"Keith, I am highly sorry about this next part."

"What is it?"

"The device has to put you through what happened again so it knows what to fix. You may experience any pain you had while you were there."

"What?!" Lance asked. "Then why are you putting him through it?!"

"I'll be fine, Lance."

"But don't worry, young Paladin! You won't die! It's only an illusion!" Coran told him. "Which reminds me, I almost forgot to strap you down!" 

Coran put the device beside Keith and retrieved, well, some straps. He tied Keith's hands to the bed rail.

"Okay! Close your eyes please!"

Keith did as told. He felt something cold go against his skull. Then he felt someone's fingers go through his. Keith opened his eyes to see Lance holding his hand.

Lance winked at him. "Squeeze if you need."

Keith closed his eyes again, resting his head against the pillow. 

"This may hurt a tad!" Coran announced, pressing buttons on the device.

Keith prepared himself for what lie ahead. He wasn't very fond of that memory.

A mix of red and blue light emerged from the device as electricity went into Keith's body.

Coran finally noticed Lance's hand on Keith's. His eyes widened. "No! Lance! Let go of him!"

Lance was too late. The electricity had already surged through him.

Lance had fallen onto Keith's body. Lance had passed out, just like Keith.

They were re-visiting a memory. One they both were not fond of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the pain never seems to end.  
> lmao sorry i meant for recovery to come but yea. this idea came to me.


	13. Memory Invader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had been expecting the pain when Coran had told him he would re-live the memory.
> 
> What he wasn't expecting, though, was to be re-living Lance's memory of what happened.

Keith's eyes shot open when he felt the pain in his arm. 

He had been expecting the pain when Coran had told him he would re-live the memory.

What he wasn't expecting, though, was to be re-living Lance's memory of what happened.

Keith couldn't control what he was saying or doing, but he could still see around the room.

Shiro wasn't there. _Shiro wasn't there._

Which meant he was helping them. From the safety of the castle. 

Somebody screamed. 

_When did I scream?_

_You screamed a lot, actually._

_What the hell? Lance?_

_Yea. I can still hear what you're saying, just like I can hear you._

_That's a little odd, to be honest._

_Oh , so, this is odd, but not the fact that we pilot 1 giant robot lion and 4 smaller robot lions that forms a human robot that protects the universe?_

_Yes._

He screamed again.

Lance had started mind-talking to Blue.

_You let Red go?!_

_I had too, Keith! You were dying!_

_If they had managed to get the Red Lion, we wouldn't have been able to form Voltron!_

Keith's past-self screamed.

_If you had died, we wouldn't have been able to form Voltron!_

_You could've found another pilot! You can't make another magical robot lion!_

_You would have died, Keith! We would have- I would have lost you!_

_You- what? Lance? What do you mean?_

_I can't lose you, Keith! No matter how many flipping times I say you're my rival, I still can't let you die!_

_You said two different things there._

_Keith, you can't die. I wouldn't be able to live if you died. Keith, I-_

 

* * *

Lance woke up first. 

He was laying on top of Keith's still unconscious body.

He looked around for Coran, pushing himself off the bed.

"Good! #3, you're awake!"

"What just happened?"

Coran looked at him. "Would you like a chair?"

Lance shook his head, trying to stand. He would've collapsed if he didn't steady himself on the bedrail. "A chair would be good."

Coran brought a chair over to him.

"What happened, Coran?" Lance looked at Keith's unmoving body. "Why isn't he awake?" 

"Well, when you had intertwined your hands with Keith's, the device affected both of you. The device works for only one person, and if you're touching someone else, they will both re-live the memory."

"And Keith?"

"When two people at a time are affected by the device, the one who was touching the device when it happened will be in a coma for a few Quin-er, days, or will die. Lu-"

"Die?! Is Keith dead?!"

"Keith is not dead #3! Do not worry! He will just be in a coma for a few of your days re-living everything you felt and experienced during the time you were there!"

Lance dragged his hand over his face, feeling the heat rise to his face. "Everything?"

"Everything!"

Yea, Lance was definitely blushing now. "Nonononononono-"

"What's wrong, #3?"

"I felt a lot of stuff that day."

"If you mean you felt that you loved him that day,-"

"What?" The tips of Lance's ears turned red.

"It's quite obvious, I'm afraid. But once again, do not worry if you don't want him to know! When Keith wakes up from the coma, he won't remember anything that happened during that time!"

Lance sighed in relief. "Good. Wait- why am I up already? How long has it been?"

"The second person who was affected will only feel what the other person felt that day for a span, of four of your earth minutes!"

"How long will Keith be in a coma for?"

"About 5 Quintants, but he will need 3 Quin- days to fully heal."

"8 days without Voltron? Without Keith?"

"I'm afraid so, yes. If we need Voltron that badly, Allura will be able to pilot the Red Lion. The others have already been informed of Keith's absence." Coran hummed, gesturing to an asleep Shiro sitting in a chair. "Right now, we are hidden very well among a cluster of Dunabs!"

"What are 'Dunabs'?"

"Dunabs are very peaceful creatures that act on defence only! Alteans are allied with them, and are able to communicate with them! If any Galra come, they will be able to keep us hidden!"

"Oh."

"And, Lance?"

"Yea?"

"Go get some rest. You've had a lot on you these past few quintant."

"I'll be fine." 

"Lance."

Lance looked at Coran. His face wasn't his usual bright ball of happiness. It was a face mixed with concern and worry.

"Okay. I'll go sleep. If he wakes up, or anything at all happens, come get me."

His normal happy expression returned. "Of course, #3!"

Lance stood up from the chair, only to nearly collapse again. "Why is it hard to walk?"

"When the device is used, it drains you of your energy!"

"Great," Lance sighed. "Could you get Hunk for me?"

"Of course!"

"You say of course a lot."

"Of course I would!"

Lance facepalmed. Or, he would have, if he had any energy left.

"#2, if you'd please come down to the infirmary!" Coran called into the speaker. "It's beside the med-bay!"

"He should be here soon!" Coran announced.

Lance nodded, slumping back in his chair. His legs didn't have the energy to support him anymore. His eyes we're beginning to close.

A few minutes later, Hunk arrived.

"Whatcha need, Coran?"

"Actually, #2, Lance needed you!" He answered pointing towards the sleeping Lance in a chair. "But, it seems he fell asleep. Could you take him to his sleeping quarters?"

"'Course." Hunk answered, flopping Lance over his shoulder.

Lance started to stir, making Hunk pat his back.

"..H...i Hu...Hunk..." Lance mumbled sleepily.

"Let's get you to bed, okay..." Hunk's voice drowned out when he started walking down the hallway leading to the sleeping quarters.

* * *

Why the hell would Lance tell Blue to let go of Red? They could always find another paladin.

_Keith, I-_

_Lance?_

No response.

_Lance?!_

_What the hell Lance? Talk to me!_

_Lance!_

Keith stopped trying to get Lance to talk and paid attention to what was happening. Lotor had his back to Lance so that he couldn't see what he was doing to his body.

Lance was pulling hard against the cuffs that kept him to the floor, even with the broken wrist. Pain continued to scream throughout his body, and Lance had to force down a scream.

_Why were you hurting yourself, you idiot? I was clearly fine-_

A scream filled the room.

"Shir-Shiro p-plea..please..." Keith was staring at a spot on the wall. 

The voice wasn't audiable enough to be heard, but Keith knew what he had said.

Keith watched as his own eyes fluttered close, as Lotor moved toward his head.

"Now what, Paladin? Shall I cut off his tounge like promised?"

Lance's gut churned with fear. He didn't want Lotor to touch Keith anymore.

Keith watched as Lotor gripped his chin, pulled it towards him, and tried to force his mouth open.

"No," Lance croaked, "please."

Lotor laughed at the attempt. He had finally managed to open his mouth when alarms blared through the ship.

"What?" He snarled, getting up from his position.

Lance was filled with relief. Keith was going to be able to talk. He was going to live.

* * *

Keith opened his eyes. It took him a minute to fully see what was around him. Coran was on the other side of the room, talking to Shiro.

No one else was here.

Keith tried to sit up, only to fall back down, groaning in pain.

Coran and Shiro both looked at him with concern.

"Is he already awake?" Shiro asked.

"Of course!" Coran announced, walking over to Keith.

"Of course?"

"I said it would only take five of your earth hours."

"You said 5 days."

"I did? Well, I meant 5 of y- hours." Coran replied, taking the restraints off of Keith's arms.

"Did the device work?" Shiro asked.

"It should have, yes. But, it will still take a few quintant for Keith to heal." Coran said, wrapping an Altean form of gauze around his chest.

"S-shiro?"

Shiro raced to Keith's side. "What is it, kiddo?"

"Don't call me that..." He mumbled.

"Sorry, force of habit."

"I-i'm sorry-" he croaked.

"Keith, you don't need to apologize. Lance explained to me what happened." 

"Lance- Where- where's Lance?"

"He's sleeping. You should be too. The device claims all of your energy when putting you back in a memory." Shiro answered. 

Coran left the room, presumably to get a blanket for Keith.

"What memory?" Keith asked, not remembering anything.

"Oh, right. The device has to put you through the memory again to know what to fix. When you wake up, you don't remember going through the memory."

"But, I don't remember anything after coming out of Red..."

"That's probably because of the concussion."

"I think- I think Lance said something important, but-"

Lance walked through the door, arguing with Coran. "But it's Hump day is the middle of the week! That's the entire point!"

"Lance-"

Lance looked at Keith, coming to his side. "Keith, I'm sorry I wasn't here. I was-"

"I know. Do you remember anything from the memory?"

Lance nodded. 

"What happened?" 

"You said, and I quote; "Lance, you're so amazing! I never should have underestimated your amazing skills! You're such a good sharpshooter, and-" Lance explained, mocking his voice in a high pitched girly manner.

"That didn't happen."

"Yea, it did."

"No, i-"

"That bonding moment didn't happen then!"

It took Keith a second to realize what Lance just said. "'That bonding moment didn't happen then,'" Keith quoted.

"Shit."

"You did remember! Asshole!"

"Red shirt!"

"I'm not the fuc-"

"Shut your Quiznack, Keith."

"You're not using that word right."

"Shut. Your. Quiznack."

"LANCE!" Coran shouted. "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"

Shiro laughed, sitting into a chair beside Keith's bed. He took Keith's hand and starting rubbing circles into it. 

"Keith, you should get some sleep. Coran said it drains you of all your energy."

Keith nodded. "Fine." 

Keith closed his eyes.

Coran grabbed Lance's ear.

"What are you doing?!" Lance screamed, being dragged by his ear out of the door.

"Washing your mouth out with soap!"

Shiro smiled at the argument. Light snores emitted from Keith's sleeping body. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want anything bad to happen, request it. he is literally going to start recovering now. NO MORE DELAYS.


	14. You can Fix a Fixer Upper with a Little Bit of Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soRRY IT TOOK SO LONG. i've been busy with stuff. i know you're dissapointed emily.;)

"God, just shut up already!" Keith yelled, putting his hands over his ears.

"What was that? I can't hear you over our beautiful voices!" Lance yelled back, continuing to sing the Frozen sound track.

"Beautiful? It sounds like dying walruses." Keith corrected. "Well, Hunks sounds good. Yours sounds like a dying walrus. Or in french, a dying phoque."

Lance stopped singing. "What did you just call me?"

"A dying phoque. P-H-O-Q-U-E."

"Dude, no. That sounded like fu-"

Hunk started singing again, drowning out Lance's voice.

"Do it somewhere else! You know I can't leave!"

"That's the beauty of it!" Lance yelled back, winking.

"SHIRO!"

"Tattle tale!"

"Tattle tale? Are you serious?"

"You're trying to get me to stop by telling Space-Dad, are you not?"

"Well-"

"Lance is right." Lance said, finishing his sentance.

"You forgot to say not."

"You said 'Lance is right.' wrong."

The boys continued to bicker, forgetting about the songs. Hunk had left the room, giving them some _personal_ space. 

Trying to sit up, Lance made him lay back down. 

"Coran says bed rest. Bed means laying down."

"I can sit up!" Keith protested. Trying to sit up just caused pain with Lance's hands on his chest. "It's been six days!"

"Six isn't eight, you dummy."

Keith rolled his eyes. Sighing in defeat, he. stayed where he was. A thought came to mind.

"Have you been sleeping?" Keith asked, once the hands were removed from his chest.

"What? Yea. You've seen me sleeping-"

"For, like, twenty minutes. Then you woke back up seeming... I dunno. Scared?"

"Nah. All happy thoughts." Lance lied, pointing to his head.

"Doubtful."

"Doubtful? Come on, man. One of my thoughts are of you and-" Lance stopped himself. He almost let loose an embarrassing thought- no, memory of his dream.

"You and I what?" Keith asked.

"I-i should go-" Lance said, feeling the heat rise to his face.

He stood up from his spot on the bed when a hand caught at his wrist. 

Lance could've pulled free, but he didn't. 

"Lance?" Keith finally caught Lance's gaze. "What did you and I do? In-in this thought?"

Lance hesitated. Should he tell him about the dreams? What if- what if Keith didn't feel the same?

"Erm, it wasn't exactly a thought.." Lance explained. "It's a, uh, a memory. In the pod, I had these dreams that I thought were real life and-" 

"And?" Keith knew what he was going to say, but he was denying the thought. 

 _No, no one feels that way about me_.

"and- and we, eh," Lance tugged at the collar of his shirt. He didn't want to say anything, but at the same time, he did. "we were, uhm, dating and uh, we, sort of, kissed , a lot and uh-"

"What was it like?" Keith asked. He was still denying the feelings bubbling up inside of him.

Lance looked at him.

 _Did he- no, no he didn't just_ _ask-_

 _"_ Lance? What was it like?" Keith repeated, holding a bit tighter on his wrist.

"It- uhm, it's hard to explain?"

"Should we- maybe- test it?" Keith asked, blushing so damn hard.

"Did you-"

Keith let go of Lance's wrist to cover his own face. 

_Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot-_

_**My Paladin is not an idiot.** _

_Yes, he is- GOD I HATE BLUSHING._

Keith nodded, still covering his face. "I- I did but I- you- you can go if you want -"

Lance stood in place, unable to respond. We're his dreams coming true?

"I - uh, I would leave but-" Keith removed his hands from his face and pointed to the bed. "Bed rest."

Finally regaining his control, he responded to Keith. "No-no, it's okay, we can-"

Keith lowered his other hand from his eyes.

"Really?" Keith bit his lip.

Lance nodded and sat on the edge of his bed, near Keith's chest. "I just- I don't want to hurt you, if I press too hard or something-"

"It'll be fine-"

"But what if you get hurt because of me?"

"My head always pounds because of you," Keith smirked.

"Oh really? Well, I could just keep getting louder and louder," his volume increased, "until it feels better!"

Keith slapped Lance's shoulder. "Nope, doesn't help. You should just shut your quiznack."

"You're not using that word right," Lance said, leaning closer to Keith's face.

"Shut. Your. Quiznack." Keith said, finally touching Lance's mouth.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, when noises sprang from the hallway leading to the infirmary.

Keith and Lance immediately broke apart. 

"Coward." Lance whispered, smirking as he stood up.

"You did the same thing!"

"You did it first!" 

They started to bicker once more.

Hunk walked in singing a fixer upper, with a highly annoyed Pidge walking beside him.

Lance turned red, starting to sing along.

"What song is this?" Keith asked Pidge, who had turned up beside him.

"It's the love song they sing in Frozen when the two people finally realize they're meant for eachother or something. It's called "You can fix a fixer upper with love." or something like that."

Keith face-palmed.

"What?" Pidge asked, slightly amused. Pidge and Hunk had watched the surveillance feed of the infirmary before they walked in.

"Nothing," Keith muttered. "nothing at all."

"You look like a strawberry, Keith. So does Lance. You wanna tell us why?" Pidge asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Keith looked at Pidge. "You didn't."

"Ohohoh, I did."

Keith's eyes were murderous. "I would throttle you if everything didn't hurt."

"Oh, well, I guess you just have to wait two days. Maybe there is something Lance could beat you at." Pidge told him.

"Are you implying he's stronger than me?"

"Well, not implying- I'm saying he's stronger than you."

"Pidge, I need to make something clear."

She turned to him, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Yes?"

"You are an as-"

"WITH A LITTLE BIT IF LOVE!" Lance gasped then held out his arms and fell backwards.

Hunk caught him. "Oh no! Anna!"

Lance and Hunk laughed.

"What the hell was that?" Keith asked.

"You've never seen Frozen?" Lance gasped.

Keith shook his head.

"YOU ARE A FREAKING MONSTER."

Keith winced at the noise, then tapped his head. "Concussions gone, headache isn't."

Lance ignored him and turned to Pidge. "Pidge, can you-"

She whipped out a tablet and started tapping it. "On it,"

Pidge left the room, Hunk on her heels.

"You can actually download Earth movies and stuff. Could you..." Hunk's voice trailed off as he went out of ear shot.

"I feel as if nows a good time to ask-" Lance told him, turning his head to make sure they were gone.

"Ask what?" Keith asked him.

His eyes sparkled when he asked the question. "What are we now?"

"I guess we'll have to find out as we go along." Keith said, pulling Lance closer.

"What-"

"I have a question for you." 

"What-what is it?" Lance asked. What was going on?

"What's Frozen?" Keith asked, letting go of his shirt.

"'What's Frozen? WHATS FROZEN? ONLY ONE OF THE SADDEST DISNEY MOVIES OF ALL TIME!"

"What's Disney?"

"WHATS DISNEY? YOU GOD DAMN IDIOT. DISNEY IS EVERYTHING. DISNEY IS MARVEL. DISNEY IS- WAIT. WAIT WAIT WAIT. YOU KNOW WHAT MARVEL IS, RIGHT?"

"Is Marvel that Ratboy thing?"

"RATBOY? IT'S BATMAN YOU IDIOT!"

"Are you-"

"YES, I'M SURE. PIDGE, YOU NEED TO GET EVERY GOD DAMN DISNEY MOVIE EVER KNOWN TO PHOQUEING MANKIND."

"Lance-"

"I SAID P-H-O-Q-U-E-I-N-G."

"It sounds like f-u-c-"

"I KNOW. YOU SEE MY POINT?"

The communication systems blared Pidge's voice. "I've got a lot of Disney movies! Almost all of the Marvel movies, every disney movie from 2000s and up, and the entire Star Wars series."

Lance looked at Keith hopefully. "You know what Star Wars is, right?"

"It's May the Fourth on Earth."

"INTERNATIONAL STAR WARS DAY?!?" Lance looked at Keith. "Wait, you know-" Lance grinned. "YOU KNOW WHAT STAR WARS IS!" 

Lance brought himself to Keith's face and kissed him, still grinning.

Keith's eyes widened in surprise. "Pidge can-"

"I don't freaking care! You know what Star Wars is!"

"And Marvel. I just wanted to bother you."

"And- and Marvel?!" Lance gasped and fake passed out onto Keith's bed.

"But I still don't know what Frozen is."

"That's fine." Lance breathed. "Not a good movie anyways. Only the songs are good." He grinned up at Keith.

"What?"

"You're still not getting out of watching those movies."

Keith sighed, but still grinned. It was nice seeing Lance this happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, one more chapter (hopefully) on this then ill write other stories that are aprt of this series


	15. Movie Marathon™

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and DC. Movie Marathon™

Keith was asleep when Lance burst into the room, singing The Lion King's  _Hakuna Matata._

"It ain't no passing-" Lance was carrying a tablet thing, following Pidge who was holding a projector and a screen. "Wake up, my sleeping beauty!" He cried, coming to kiss Keith.

When Lance lowered himself to Keith, Keith opened his eyes and punched him in the face. Pidge burst out into laughter while setting up the projector.

"What the hell?!" Lance yelled, cradling his wounded nose in his hands.

"'m sorry. Habit.." Keith mumbled, still sleepy.

"IT'S A HABIT TO PUNCH SOMEONE WHO WAS WAKING YOU UP?"

"Can you stop shouting?"

"CAN YOU NOT PUNCH ME IN THE FACE WHEN I TRY TO DO SOMETHING NICE?" Lance lowered his hands from his face, catching Keith's gaze. Keith was smirking. 

"You're smirking. Did you do that on purpose?" Keith smiled innocently. "Asshole."

"You were going to wake me up by kissing me."

"Pidge pushed me."

Pidge sat up from her spot on the floor, taking the tablet from Lance. "First off, it's almost ready, Lance. Go get the others. Secondly; I was at the foot of the bed when you yelled "Wake up, my sleeping beauty!'"

Keith looked at Lance in horror. "I'm not flipping Sleeping beauty!"

"Why not? You've got the looks, and you were-"

"Lance, go get the others please." Pidge said, finally satisfied with her projector.

"Yea, fine" Lance grumbled, leaving the room.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Lance asked me to download those Disney movies. That's what I did." She answered, gesturing to the screen with her hand.

Keith dragged a hand over his face, groaning.

"And he did it today because he knew you couldn't leave. Such a great guy you got there, eh?"

"Shut it." Keith snapped. "Disn-"

Lance and Hunk came in, followed by the others, holding a bowl of.... space popcorn? Lance grabbed a chair and dragged it beside Keith's bed, sitting down.

He noticed Keith's frowning face and poked his nose.

"What the hell?"

"I needed to repay you."

Keith crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the screen. Shiro and Allura sat on an unoccupied bed together, while Coran and Pidge sat on the ground, resting their backs on Keith's bed. 

Hunk had three bowls of space popcorn in his hands. He dropped the bigger one off with Coran and Pidge, and gave one to Allura & Shiro. Hunk came over and gently sat the bowl of space popcorn in between Keith's legs.

"What is this?" Keith asked, picking up a kernel.

"Space popcorn, you idiot," Lance answered, trying to throw it into his mouth. He missed each time.

"You suck at that."

"I'd like to see you do better, Mr. Perfect."

Keith shrugged and threw one into his mouth.

"YOU HACKED!" Lance shouted, jaw dropping to the floor.

"Tell me, #3, what is Hacking?"

"SHH! Movie's starting!" Pidge yelled, throwing popcorn at anyone who defied her.

She laid down on Hunk's lap and put her feet over Coran's legs.

"What movie is this?" Keith whispered.

"Wait for it." He whispered back.

After a few seconds, the familiar tune of the Star Wars introduction started up.

Hunk mimicked a deep voice and read what was on the screen.

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...."

"THE FIVE LIONS OF VOLTRON WERE FORMED BY THE ALTEANS TO DEFEAT THE GALRA EMPIRES!" Lance piped up, causing Keith to hold back laughter.

"Actually, Lance, the 5 Lions weren't-"

"SHUSH!" Pidge yelled. 

Keith moved to the side of the bed he was laying, then patted beside him, getting Lance's attention.

"What?" Lance whispered.

Keith patted the empty spot beside him. "You want a hurt man to be lonely?"

Lance snorted and sat beside Keith, draping an arm over his shoulders. Keith absentmindedly leaned into Lance.

Forming their own cuddle puddle, they watched the movie in front of them.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the credits rolled. 

"That was interesting!" Coran enthused.

"Trust me," Hunk told Coran. "It gets way more confusing."

"It was still interesting!" Coran said.

Shiro and Allura left the room talking about training strategies for when Keith was better.

Coran stayed behind watching Hunk give a sleepy Pidge a piggyback ride. 

"#3?"

Lance looked up. "Yea?"

"Keith should be fine to come out of the bed in one Quintant."

"Good to know," Lance said, looking down at the sleeping Keith in his lap.

"Do make sure you eat, Lance."

Lance nodded, watching Coran leave the room.

Looking back down at Keith, he realized how vulnerable he looked.

His eyes were closed, his shirt half way up his stomach, and he wasn't tense.

He looked like a normal teenage boy. Not some Paladin of Voltron.

Keith opened his eyes. They were still foggy from his sleep.

"Were you watching me sleep?" He asked, yawning.

Typically, Lance's pride would have made him say no. But now, since they were basically dating, Lance's pride didn't matter.

"Yea," Lance said, brushing hair out of Keith's sleepy eyes.

"...weirdo..." Keith mumbled against Lance's shirt.

"Where's your jacket?" Keith asked, poking where his sleeves would be.

"Look on your shoulders, dummy."

Keith looked at his shoulders, and seemed to relax a bit. "..oh.."

Lance laughed. "Who's the weirdo?"

"...smells like the ocean..." Keith said into Lance's shirt.

Lance let go of Keith, and pushed himself into a sitting position. "You wanna watch something else?"

Keith nodded, putting his arms through the jackets sleeves.

"Which one?" Lance asked, getting up and grabbing the tablet with the list.

Sitting up, Keith shrugged. "You pick."

"What have you not seen?" Lance asked, bringing the tablet to Keith.

Keith stretched his arms before accepting the tablet. He scrolled through the movies in front of him.

He stopped in a Marvel category. "I haven't seen Civil War..."

Lance looked at the screen. He had completely forgot about that movie. "Then we'll watch that!"

"Have you seen it?" Keith asked.

Lance nodded. "Just once. Good movie though."

Keith handed Lance the tablet and laid back down. 

Lance swiped his fingers on the movie , like Pidge showed him, and the movie showed up on the screen.

Lance put the tablet on the table beside the bed, and sat down beside Keith.

Keith pushed himself towards Lance and leaned his head onto Lance's chest.

"Try not to fall asleep," Lance told him, looking down at Keith.

Quiet snores were already leaving his body. 

"Too late..." Lance whispered, leaning his head against the wall.

He watched the movie, draping his arm over Keith, pulling him closer.

Lance closed his eyes, allowing sleep to overtake him.

* * *

_Haggar appeared in front of him. She had already thrown the lightning bolt._

_He watched as Lance bent himself over him, taking the blast._

_He tried to push him up, trying to take the bolt himself, but he didn't even have the strength to raise his hand._

_"...n...no...." He said, voice not audiable enough for Lance to hear._

_They tumbled down the ramp, Lance blocking his body from the fall._

_Then everything went black._

* * *

A very loud sound woke Keith up. He opened his eyes, trying to forget the dream he just had.

He looked around him. Civil War was still playing on the screen, and the tablet was on the table.

Lance was gone. 

The noise was still going on, and red was flashing through the room.

_Oh. The alarm._

_**They have it under control, My Pilot.** _

_I should help them...._

_**My Pilot, you are still far too injured to aid them.** _

_I'll survive. I'm not just going to sit here._

_**You can help them by staying here. That way they know you're safe.** _

Keith got up from the bed, stretching his arms.

He took a step and dizziness claimed him.

He fell to the ground, trying to control his breathing.

Everything hurt. Why did everything hurt?

Keith lay there for a few more minutes before trying to get up.

He managed to walk to the doorway before collapsing.

It was getting harder to breathe. The light was starting to hurt his eyes. His head was pounding.

Keith pushed himself up from the ground once more.

This time, he managed to get to the end of the hall before falling down.

The alarms had stopped.

Keith tried to get up, only to fall back down.

Darkness swam at the edge of his vision. 

Keith felt someone grab his arms and putting him in a sitting position.

"Keith?" Lance asked.

Keith tried to focus his vision on the person in front of him. 

"Keith?" He asked again.

Keith's eyes slid closed.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be like one more chapter until i start a new chapter thing in the series:).


	16. Cuddle Puddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't had proper motivation. sorry. also, writers block is a bitch. :)

"Keith!" Lance shook his shoulders violently. 

How was he out here? Why was he nearly dead?

"Just because my eyes are closed, doesn't mean I'm dead, you ass." Keith said.

His eyes were still closed, and his breathing wasn't even. If he breathed in too long then he would cough.

Lance laughed out of relief.

"Don't  laugh."

"I'm not- oh whatever. Come on then. Back to the infirmary. I don't know what the hell happened, but-"

"I got up and walked to here." Keith answered, being helped up by Lance. He opened his eyes. "The lights are bright."

"How else would we see, you dummy?" Lance snapped. "Coran said 1 more day. Has it been one more day?"

"The alarms-"

"Screw the alarms. It was like four galra ships. Not risky enough to wake you up."

Keith sighed.

"If we needed you, we would've come and got you."

Lance had reached the bed and placed Keith on it. His gentleness returned. "You still cold?"

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, laying down slowly.

"You still have my jacket on."

Keith looked down. "Oh, right. Uh, sorry. Here-" He started taking off the coat.

Lance placed a hand on Keith's fidgeting arm. "No, no. That's not what I meant. Keep it on. I was just wondering if you were cold."

Keith shook his head. "Your jacket is warm."

Lance laughed and pulled the hood over Keith's head. 

"I could've done it myself."

"You couldn't  walk to the door by yourself."

"I made it past the door."

Lance sat down beside Keith and pulled him closer. "You probably collapsed five times before getting there."

Keith leaned on Lance. "It was actually three..."

Lance snorted. "Watch the movie, you weirdo."

"What movie?" Keith looked up. "Oh."

This time, it was Lance who fell asleep, holding his boyfriend close.

* * *

Keith woke up in Lance's arms, something warm draped over his lap and his head against a moving... chest?

He moved his arm to rub at his eyes, causing the figure on his lap to stir.

"Keith?" Pidge whispered, looking up from her position.

"Hey," Keith answered, looking around the room. "What happened, exactly?"

She pushed off of Keith's lap, and sat in between Lance's legs resting against his chest. 

"Well," she started, pushing up her glasses. "We found you guys asleep on the bed, and Coran said you were okay to move around now. So, Hunk grabbed you guys and brought you to one of the common areas. Then Shiro, Allura and I came in to find you and Lance laying on Hunk. Then we formed this..." she gestured with her hand, "Cuddle puddle."

Keith pushed himself into a sitting position. "Cuddle puddle? What's that?"

"Dude. What. No. Get out. Like, right now."

Keith turned to see Lance staring at him. "What?"

"How have you never heard of a cuddle puddle?!" Lance whisper shouted.

"uh.."

"Pidge, get the whip."

"Lance, we don't have any whips. We have guns, swords, blasters, giant magical flying lions-"

"I want the _whip_."

"Like I said, we don't have a whip."

Shiro moved towards the arguing trio and dragged Keith into his lap. "No whips."

Crossing his arms in frustration, he turned his head away from Shiro.

Keith groaned a little when Shiro moved, causing Hunk to wake up. He sat up, causing Lance and Pidge to shift as well.

"Dude," Hunk said, reaching to grab something off of Lance's cheek. "You got a little Keith hair there."

Lance swatted at his hand. "Leave it. It fuels my hate fire."

Keith snorted.

"What's so funny, Mullet?" He asked, glaring in his direction. 

"Did you just quote Pitch Perfect?"

"Oh, so you know what Pitch perfect is, BUT NOT WHAT A FLUPPING CUDDLE PUDDLE IS?"

"Lance," Shiro whispered. "You'll wake up Coran."

"No need, #2! Allura and I are awake!"

"Flupping isn't a word, idiot." Keith said, completely ignoring Coran and Shiro's mini conversation.

"I'm the idiot? Me? Really? You got up out of bed because alarms were going, collapsing in the hallway!"

"Keith-"

"I'm fine, Shiro." Keith snapped, shifting in his lap. "I was just a little disoriented from being in bed so long."

Hunk and Pidge hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, as they started playing with a deck of cards Pidge had in the backpack she brought with her.

"Holy shit, Pidge. Did you bring a deck of cards?"

"Always got one on me," she answered, a smug look on her face.

"I don't give a fu-" Lance started to say, catching Shiro's dissaproving gaze. "A flup on what you're playing," He corrected himself. "but, deal me in."

"Crazy eights," Hunk replied answering the unspoken question. 

He laid out 24 more cards for Shiro, Keith and Lance.

"I don't know how to play," Keith protested.

"WHAT THE HELL. NO, NOPE, NO WAY. I QUIT. SOMEONE ELSE CAN HAVE HIM!" Lance teased.

Huffing, Keith picked up his cards and looked to Shiro for help.

Shiro just laughed and picked up his cards. 

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem," Shiro answered, putting a hand on his head.

"Allura, Coran, come here! We're gonna show you, _and Keith_ , how to play this game!" Lance half-yelled, glaring at Keith. 

"I am good, #3. I must check up on some systems anyways." Coran said, leaving the room.

"I would love to, but as Coran said, some systems need re-booting."

"Spoil-sport!" Lance shouted, as they left the room. Huffing, he looked at Keith. "Fine. We'll just show you, then."

Huddled in their little corner, Lance begun to talk about weird tv shows and movies, things that happened in schools, and typical social media stuff that Keith needed to know.

After all, this weird alien boy needed to learn even the most simple card game.

Crazy eights.

There's no way out of this one, Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was short, but this needed to end. i'll start working on other fanfics soon tho;)  
> i hope you enjoyed this story, many thanks to astromily, considering she's mostly the one who motivated me without trying. so yea, thanks to the people who stuck with me for these past few weeks. :)) see y'all next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is only the first chapter. Klance will come soon you people. If people actually read this i'll continue the story. Leave any types of comments you want:)


End file.
